


Too Far From Me

by VintageJacqui



Series: TFFM [1]
Category: Nagron - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Modern
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-06
Updated: 2013-04-23
Packaged: 2017-11-09 07:46:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 36,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/453050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VintageJacqui/pseuds/VintageJacqui
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nasir is a gang member with no direction in life. Agron is a soldier on leave.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [albertogang](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=albertogang).



The sound of crashing barstools and breaking glass swam out into the night. The bar was a run-down hovel at the end of a street with more shops boarded up than were open for business. A group of fifteen or so young lads spilled out onto the moonlit street. “You fuckers aren’t welcome here dya hear me?!” Screamed the manager of the bar as the lad’s jeered and laughed at being thrown out. They all made their way around the back of the bar, the smell of pot floating around them in a hazy smokey cloud.

“Hey Naz, you gonna come back inside see if we can’t really scare the shit out of that old shit Gaius?”

A tall blond boy of about seventeen spoke to an older boy of about nineteen and punched him hard on the arm. The older boy had caramel coloured skin and long dark hair swept back behind a red bandana. His dark eyes playfully glared at his friend.

“Nah bro I'm fucking knackered, going to crash at home.”

“Ahh you pussy. Fine go and get your beauty sleep” Teased another member of the group.

Giving his friends the finger the boy walked swiftly away from them and hopped over a broken chain metal fence at the side of the bar. Nasir had been with the gang since the age of twelve. Growing up in this neighbourhood it was inevitable that he would either become a member of The Wild Dogs or end up dead at the hands of the rival gangs in the nearby towns. Being in the gang meant protection, but also family. Nasir had never had a real family. His mother left when he was a baby and his drunken father went away to chase a dream of becoming an artist when Nasir was only ten. He hadn’t seen either of them since. Nasir was left alone in a small two room house on the edge of his small home town. Luckily his idiot father owned the house so Nasir didn’t have to worry about rent or anything but food was another matter. Stealing was the only option and it worked well for him for a while. He was so small that he mainly went unnoticed in the food stores and he only took things that wouldn’t be obviously missed.

At twelve he was caught stealing a pack of cigarettes. He had never smoked before and that morning he had gotten it into his head that it was about time he started. As he was slipping the packet into his jacket pocket he was grabbed from behind. Thinking it was a store worker he tried to break the hold he was in and run away but instead he was dragged out into the alley next to the store and thrown against a wall. That was the first time Nasir has met Oenomaus, the leader of the main gang in Nasir’s town. The Wild Dogs.

“We’ve been keeping an eye on you Nasir. We think you’ve got what it takes to join TWD.”

From that moment Nasir had become part of something he had never experienced before. A group who looked out for each other and took care of their own. He was never entirely comfortable with the small flick knife he was presented with a month after he became a member and the first time he had joined in when the others were taking drugs he felt like he had lost a part of himself. As time passed though he fell into the routine of being a gang member and accepted that this was probably the best his life would ever get.

With thoughts of the past swirling in his mind he made his way home. Knowing the streets like the back of his hand, even in the dark of night, Nasir walked quickly with his head down and his hands tucked under his armpits. Turning a corner Nasir slammed headfirst into a broad chest and almost fell to the ground before a strong hand grasped his arm and steadied him. Nasir’s heart jumped at the firm but gentle touch.

“Hey… you ok? I didn’t see you there.” A deep voice spoke in the moonlight.

Nasir looked up and saw a flash of a smile and the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen. He stood frozen to the spot unable to think of anything to say.

“Erm, I don’t suppose you could help me could you” The green eyed giant said raising his eyebrows at the silent boy.

“With wha?”

“I’m here visiting a friend and I have no idea where his house is. I’ve got his address here…” The man pulled a scrap of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Nasir. Realising it was pretty much impossible to read in the dim light Nasir took the paper and strolled over to the nearest street light. After glancing at the address Nasir looked up to see the stranger emerge into the artificial glow surrounding him. The man was in army uniform. A light baige/green jacket with patches signifying rank on the sleeves and crisp trousers that housed incredibly long legs. Nasir drank in the sight.

A smile had appeared on the man’s face and Nasir could feel his cheeks burning.

“Yeah I know the place. It’s not far from here. Carry on down this street and turn left. It’s about the third house down.” Nasir mumbled, not making eye contact but looking in the direction he had just mentioned.

“Thanks erm?”

“Huh? Oh! Nasir… My name is Nasir”

“Nasir. That’s nice. I’m Agron”

Unsure of what else to say Nasir awkwardly shifted from one foot to the other. Agron’s smile didn’t leave his face. He reached out to take the paper back from Nasir.

“Ok, well I guess I’ll see you around then Nasir. Thanks again for your help”

“No problem. See ya”

Agron strode past Nasir and disappeared around the corner of the street. Nasir stood for a few minutes just looking after where Agron had last been. What was that? Nasir felt like he had been hit in the head. Shaking his head he started towards home again. Thoughts of his own life were far from his mind as he reached his little run down sanctuary. A tall, handsome stranger had forced them out.

The next morning Nasir woke to a loud thumping on the door to his house. Grabbing some underwear he pulled them on and shuffled yawning to the door which flew open before he reached it. The blond lad from The Wild Dogs threw a soda at Nasir and flopped down onto the couch.

“So, now you’ve slept we need to talk”

“Quin, can we do this later. I had a crappy night’s sleep and I’m starving so just want to go and get some coffee and something to eat.”

Quintus sat up and looked around the small front room. When his eyes found Nasir’s discarded clothes on the floor he passed them to him without saying anymore. Nasir took them and went into the bedroom. Looking into the mirror by the sink Nasir caught sight of himself. He looked drawn this morning. A sleepless night didn’t help but his mind kept returning to glinting eyes and incredibly sexy dimples.

“This is pretty serious Naz, you know that right bro?”

“Look, I only mentioned leaving TWD in theory. I don’t really know what I was talking about. Just forget it yeah?”

“I will for now.” Quintus gave Nasir one last look before getting up and walking out of the door. A few minutes later Nasir grabbed his leather jacket and headed into town.

Nasir had just ordered his usual, a strong black coffee and a stack of toast, when the bell on the door of the café chimed. It was pretty early and Nasir was used to eating alone. The hand gripping his shoulder was enough to make him flinch and he turned to find a grinning Agron looking down at him. Did this man ever stop fucking smiling? Changed out of his uniform Agron looked no less impressive. Dressed in a hooded sweater, jogging bottoms and for some reason UGG Boots he still looked a vision. There was an energy about him that Nasir was drawn to. He tried not to stare.

“Hey! Didn’t think I would see you again so quickly! Mind if I join you for breakfast?” Agron was already thumbing through the dog eared menu as if he had already made up his mind to join Nasir anyway.

“Yeah, ok. Your friend not with you?” Nasir was shocked at how jealous he had made the word friend sound. He had only just met him and yet thinking that the man Agron was going to meet last night was someone more than just a friend has kept playing on his mind and forcing him to toss and turn all night. Luckily Agron didn’t seem to pick up on Nasir’s tone.

“Nah, he’s having some issues with his girlfriend. I thought it was best to give them some space.”

Agron ordered a black coffee and some bacon, sausage and eggs. He walked to a booth by the window and sat. Nasir followed and took the opposite seat. Nasir looked around outside to check if any of his gang happened to be around but as a rule they mainly slept until at least noon. Neither of them spoke for a while but oddly it wasn’t an awkward silence. It was a comfortable silence as if Nasir had known this man for years. When their food arrived Nasir was the one to break it.

“So you’re a soldier.”

“Yeah, just home from my first tour in Iraq. I’m actually visiting my commander, Spartacus. He moved here a little while ago. You know him?”

“Nope”

“So what are you…? I mean, you know, like do you have a job or??”

Agron ran his hand through his short, dirty blonde hair and shovelled a mouthful of food in his mouth. Was he nervous? Nasir fought the urge to smile. Instead he poured out his life to a complete stranger. From his family, to being taken in by TWD and his involvement in some petty, minor crimes. He told him how he maybe wanted to leave the gang, maybe the whole town and do some travelling. Even how he was thinking of going to school. Agron sat listening, occasionally nodding or adding a comment but just letting Nasir vent.

When he had nothing left to say he sat back and let out a long sigh. An hour and a half had passed without him realising it. Nasir and Agron looked at each other and each let out a soft laugh.

“Sorry” Nasir finally said.

“For?”

“Going on like a man possessed! I’ve been talking about myself all this time and I haven’t even asked anything about you. Do you…”

“Sorry little man I’ve really got to go. Spartacus will be pissed if I abandon him with Mira all day.” Agron pulled enough money out of his wallet to pay for both of their bills and placed it on the edge of the table. He just waved his hand when Nasir tried to add his own money.

“No I’ve got it. You can pay next time ok”

This time he couldn’t help the smile that grew on his face.

“Next time?”

“I’d like to see you again. Give me a call if you want”

Agron handed a folded piece of paper to Nasir who took it but didn’t open it.

“I’m here for a few weeks so I’m free anytime. Nice meeting you Nasir”

He held out his hand for a handshake and when Nasir took it in his own hand it was like a bolt of electricity had coursed through his veins. Without letting Nasir reply Agron smirked and headed out the door without looking back. Unfolding the paper in his hands Nasir felt like he had stepped into a dream. Agron’s number was written inside and Nasir resisted the urge to dig out his phone and call him right that minute. No. Nasir shook his head. He was probably reading too much into this. Agron seemed like a genuinely nice guy. He was cheerful and polite to the waitress who bought their second cups of coffee over. So why couldn’t he help feeling that there was something more between them? One thing he knew for certain was that he was more than happy to find out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nasir is a gang member with no direction in life. Agron is a soldier on leave.

The day started hot and continued to get hotter as the hours passed. Nasir was hanging out with TWD on a park that no child had played on for many years. He was feeling carefree that day and was enjoying the company of his brothers a lot more than he had been of late. He laughed and fought and smoked with his friends but after a while they were restless and decided to go and crash at Nasir’s place and have some beers.

“You ok Naz?”

It was Oenomaus. The man was about five years older than Nasir and had taken a special interest in him since they first met. Nasir admired Oenomaus for being a fierce disciplinarian but also because he would fight to the death for any one of the gang.

“Yeah sure”

Oenomaus was searching Nasir’s face. Had that bastard Quin told him that Nasir wanted to leave TWD. He was always trying to stir shit up.

“You just look different somehow.”

Nasir shrugged but didn’t respond. Oenomaus smiled then joined some of the others as they made their way to Nasir’s. As they were nearing the house Nasir caught sight of a man walking through the trees. It was Agron. Nasir felt as if his heart had stopped. Even though he had told Agron about the gang he didn’t really intend for him to ever meet them. It’s not like they were violent or anything, at least not without good reason, but they could be extremely hostile towards anyone not TWD.

Agron waved when he saw Nasir and grinned that adorable, annoying grin. Quin, Oenomaus and the others looked at him with confusion. None of them really knew anyone else except each other.

“You know this meat head?” Quin sneered.

“Kinda, but call him that again and I’ll fuckin drop ya” Nasir replied quickly. Hoping Agron had been out of earshot.

“Hey, Nasir! How’s it going?”

Agron looked at Nasir with something like a question in his eyes but whatever it was he didn’t voice it.

“I’m just getting to know my way around town seeing as I’m going to be here for a few months.”

Months? Nasir’s heart skipped a beat. He stepped away from his friends to stand in front of Agron. He was wearing jeans today and a loose fitting vest that showed off his tanned, muscular arms.

“I thought you said a few weeks?”

“Change of plan.”

Dragging his eyes away from Agron, Nasir spoke to the others over his shoulder.

“You guys go on without me. I wanna show my frie… Agron something”

Oenomaus slapped Nasir on the back and pulled Quin away who still had a bewildered look on his face. Nasir started to walk and Agron matched his pace and walked by his side. Nasir could feel the heat rising in his face again but if Agron noticed he didn’t show it.

“So what do you want to show me that you whisked me away from your friends so quickly?”

Agron looked at Nasir out of the corner of his eye as he spoke, the hint of another grin causing his dimples to appear.

“No, I wasn’t, I uh…”

Agron chuckled slightly. “It’s fine. So where are we going?”

Seeing that Agron wasn’t really offended Nasir relaxed and tapped the side of his nose.

“It’s a secret.”

The pair walked for about fifteen minutes until they came to the edge of the town. The town, in such bad need of regeneration, was a stark contrast to what lay before them. A river at the bottom of a steep grassy bank shimmered in the scorching heat of the day. Nasir looked at Agron who stood open mouthed at this beautiful, natural paradise.

“Wow.”

Nasir, without thinking, grabbed Agron’s hand and pulled him towards some trees at the water’s edge. He dropped his hand once he realised his impulsive action. Agron was still pretty much a stranger. Nasir laughed despite himself noticing Agron still looking around open mouthed.

“Here, this is it. You up for it?” Nasir kind of regretted his choice of words.

“Ha, are you serious?!”

Agron was now standing with Nasir under a large tree. A long rope hung down from its branches and an old, battered tyre attached to the end. In answer to Agron’s question Nasir shrugged off his shirt, keeping his t-shirt on, and hopped onto the tyre causing it so spin around wildly. He crouched down and swung the tyre faster and faster. When he got high enough he leapt off the tyre and disappeared under the water with a loud splosh.

Agron let out a loud belly laugh, shrugged and went to grab hold of the tyre, He paused before climbing on to remove his vest.

“I haven’t done this since I was a kid!” Agron called out to Nasir whose head was only visible in the water.

“Bout time you tried it again then, huh?!”

Agron started to swing the tyre rapidly and when he couldn’t get any higher he let go. Nasir’s eyes widened as Agron hurtled towards him and he made a mad dash to get out of the way before they collided. Agron smashed into the water spraying Nasir with water and came to the surface spluttering.

“That. Was awesome!! Go again?!”

“Definitely!” Nasir grinned.

They messed around like this for a while trying to do different moves into the water. Agron was most impressed with his flying eagle impression. They were both walking out of the water when Agron tripped on a tree root and went down knocking Nasir over with him. Nasir started laughing hysterically and Agron joined in. It was infectious. Agron was practically on top of Nasir and he turned on his side and put his hand on the ground to push himself up. He paused when Nasir’s hand moved and grasped his forearm. No one had ever looked at Nasir the way Agron had in that moment. A mixture of lust and something more. Something deeper. But just when Nasir was about to lift his head up and meet Agron’s lips with his own the look changed. Agron got to his feet and stepped over Nasir who stayed lying on the ground. He craned his head around to look at Agron but didn’t get up. Agron had his back to him and he was hurriedly putting his vest back on. Nasir didn’t dare speak. He was finding it difficult to actually breathe. Feeling like time was standing still he waited for Agron to do something.

Speaking quietly but not looking at Nasir Agron simply said “I’m sorry” and walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was 11:45pm and Nasir was sitting alone in his living room pretending to read. There was a note on the table from TWD saying that they had gone to try and get into the bar again and that he should join them but he was in no mood for that. Absently turning the pages he was actually replaying the events at the river earlier that day. Agron wanted Nasir. It was obvious. So why had he bolted at the first chance of something happening between them? Could he be reading this all wrong?

Nasir’s eyes narrowed at the sound of a knock on the door. Slamming the book down on the arm of the couch Nasir got up and walked to the door. He opened the door to see a sheepish looking Agron looking at him.

“Hi.” Agron said biting his lip.

When Nasir made no sound Agron tried again.

“Can I come in? I kinda need to explain something.”

Oh god. He had read it all wrong. Nasir felt like a complete idiot. He turned and walked back inside motioning with his hand for Agron to follow him. He knew what was coming. A gentle knock back, a patronising ‘It’s not you it’s me’ type thing. Nasir didn’t sit. Readying himself to shove Agron out the door as soon as this was over. Agron stood about an arm’s length away from Nasir. He frowned at the small amount of space Agron had left between them. All of a sudden words came spilling from Agron.

“Look, I think you are the most beautiful man I have ever seen and I really, really wanted to kiss you today but I’m not from around here, I’m not sure how long I will be here and I know if I had kissed you I would never want to stop and I…”

Agron was cut off by Nasir’s mouth crashing on to his and his hands grasping the back of his neck. Nasir pulled out of the kiss but Agron chased his lips ferociously even biting down on his lip, drawing blood.

Agron picked Nasir up off the floor and squeezed his ass when Nasir wrapped his legs around Agron’s waist. Carrying Nasir into the bedroom Agron kissed down Nasir’s neck then biting his collarbone. Unceremoniously, he plopped Nasir down on the bed and stood between his legs looking down at his little man. An almost crazed grin formed on Agron’s face that was mirrored by an eager Nasir. Both began to undress. When Agron was down to just plain blue cotton boxers Nasir leaned forward and pressed his face between his legs to feel Agron’s erection through the material.

“Holy shit, this is real isn’t it?” Agron moaned.

Smiling, Nasir took off his own boxers and turned over onto his stomach. Agron reached out and took Nasir’s ass in his hands. Pulling on the soft flesh and hearing tight cries from its owner sent Agron wild. Wasting no time he readied Nasir using his fingers and his own saliva. Nasir gripped onto the bed sheet when Agron entered him. They both cried out with the initial burning heat but Agron soon found a rhythm and it was frantic and desperate. Nasir raised himself up slightly to allow Agron to get at deep as possible and Nasir reached his hand back to grab Agron’s fingers that were digging into his hip. Agron was already near to climax and so he leaned over Nasir, running his hands through his long damp hair and down his back before reaching under him to take his impressive cock in hand. Matching the movement of his hand to the pace of his thrusting they both came with a mutual calling of each other’s names.

Falling next to Nasir on the bed Agron ran his hand up Nasir’s back and tangled his fingers into his hair again. Leaning close so their foreheads touched they shared a slow, deep kiss. Nasir turned onto his side and pulled the blanket off the floor onto their naked bodies. He hooked a leg over Agron’s and settled his head under his lovers chin. They both fell asleep wrapped in each other’s warmth.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nasir is a gang member with no direction in life. Agron is a soldier on leave.

Nasir rubbed the sleep from his eyes and squinted at the sun flooding in through the little window. He smiled, waking from what he thought had been an incredible dream, until he noticed the weight of a warm hand on the small of his back. It had been very real. Turning over he looked at a slumbering Agron lying next to him. He traced his finger up Agron’s outstretched arm and stroked the little patch of his under arm hair, leaning over to kiss the top of his arm lingering there to take in the scent of the man. Agron was so beautiful.

Sliding out from under Agron’s hand Nasir got out of the bed, pulled on some loose joggers and went into the kitchen to make coffee tying his hair back out of his face. He couldn’t keep the smile from his face. He could feel the dull but pleasurable ache in his ass from Agron’s passionate love making. The dark, earthy smell of the coffee must have woken Agron because the next minute Nasir looked over his shoulder to see him standing in his boxers in the doorway between the two rooms. Nasir couldn’t help but grin as Agron stretched, slightly overdramatically, holding his arms above his head and yawning loudly. Nasir’s eyes wandered down Agron’s perfectly sculptured chest and stomach to the muscular ‘V’ and the hint of hair just above the waistline of his underwear. He licked his lips instinctivly.

Agron walked up behind Nasir and hooked an arm around his waist, burying his face in the hair tucked behind Nasir’s ear. He kissed him there. ‘He found my weak spot already’ Nasir thought.

“Morning” Agron contentedly breathed out the word.

“Morning yourself.” Nasir smiled, already half hard at Agron’s touch.

“That smells amazing.” He had a thing for coffee it seemed. Disentangling himself from around Nasir Agron stepped back. “Erm, mind if I have a quick shower?”

“Sure, it’s just behind that screen back in the bedroom.”

Nasir turned from the stove and pointed through the door at a Japanese screen that hid the toilet and a modest shower. Taking advantage of Nasir’s change in position Agron moved in and, cupping Nasir’s face in his hands, and planted a hard kiss on the Syrian’s lips. When he pulled back Nasir’s breath caught in his throat and he rested his forehead on Agron’s enjoying the closeness.

“Gratitude. For last night.”

Nasir was so taken aback by Agron’s words. He wanted to tell him that he should be the one doing the thanking. This was the first time in Nasir’s life that he had felt like this. He had had a few fumbles with some okay guys in the past but mainly they had ended badly and he had been single for longer than he cared to think about. He didn’t know what to say to Agron, this was all so new, so instead he leaned in for another kiss. Softer this time. Nasir curled his fingers around Agron’s neck raising goose bumps on his skin. Agron moaned and pressed his hips closer to Nasir’s.

Agron’s hands slid down to the elastic lining of Nasir’s sweat pants, sneaking his thumbs underneath the fabric. Agron pushed his leg in between Nasir’s spreading them apart. Their breathing was becoming more fevered, short gasps escaping between wet, hungry kisses. Nasir’s hands gripped at Agron’s ass and he dug his nails into the flesh below the thin cotton when Agron’s cock pressed hard against his own. As Agron began kneeling down to get better access to Nasir there was a loud pounding on the door.

“Fuck!” Nasir hissed, pulling at Agron’s hair in frustration. Agron looked up at him with a half disappointed, half amused grin.

“Guess I’m going for a shower then!” Agron stood and pecked Nasir on the forehead before sauntering into the bedroom. Nasir glared as another volley of knocks rained down on the front door.

“Yeah, just wait! I’m coming!” Nasir yelled and walked quickly to the door, unlocking it and yanking it open. Quin was standing there scowling and Nasir hid his body behind the door to conceal his persisting erection.

“What happened to you last night? You never made it to the bar.” Quin looked in a foul mood. He was trying to keep his voice steady but Nasir could tell there was anger in his tone. Something was wrong but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“I just wasn’t in the mood, bro. I wanted to crash so just came home.”

Quin put the toe of his boot against the door pushing at it slightly.

“You gonna let me in?” Quin practically sneered the words.

Nasir could hear the sound of the shower running. He had to get Quin to leave and fast. The tension of the situation was making Nasir uncomfortable yet he couldn’t understand why.

“I’m just going to hit the shower. I’ll come and meet you, outside the bar? Give me half an hour?”

What he really wanted to do was tell Quin to fuck off and go and join Agron in the shower. Just thinking about him was making his cock twitch again. Quin looked Nasir up and down and removed his foot from the doorway.

“See you later then” Quin said before turning and stalking away leaving a confused looking Nasir in his wake.

The water stopped running as Nasir closed the door and a few moments later Agron appeared with a towel tied around his waist. Nasir resisted the urge to tell Agron who was at the door and was relieved when Agron didn’t ask. He accepted the coffee that Nasir handed him and made a satisfied ‘ahhh’ noise after taking a long swig. The corner of Nasir’s mouth turned up, the shadow of a smile, putting Quin to the back of his mind. He knew he would be happy to stand and watch this adorable man for the rest of his life. He let his smile fall from his face. He was getting ahead of himself, feeling this way far too soon was likely to end in heartbreak.

“So I was thinking, do you want to come to mine, well Spartacus’s, house later? I’m cooking so it’s not going to be gourmet but if edible is up your street?!” Agron’s dimples were in full attack mode.

“Really?” Nasir hadn’t intended to sound so surprised.

“Yeah. I’d like you to meet Spartacus. Mira too if she’s still around. I think you’ll really like them. I know they will like you.”

“Erm, okay then!” Nasir’s heart felt like it could burst. Agron actually wanted to spend time with him. It wasn’t just about sex for Agron. Nasir wasn’t used to actually dating someone. Was that what this was? Dating? He didn’t know, but whatever it was he knew he needed to hold on to it.

Agron stood up from the sofa where he had plonked himself and walked over to stand in front of Nasir, now leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Look, you can tell me if I’m moving too fast for you. I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t want to.” Agron looked into Nasir’s dark brown eyes and cupped his cheek with his hand, still damp from the shower. Nasir looked back at Agron. His big green eyes showed nothing but honesty and kindness. There was nothing hidden there for Nasir to fear. He knew in that instant that his heart belonged to this man and that it would be his forever.

“No. For the first time in my life I’m doing exactly what I want.” He kissed Agron softly. ‘So this is what love feels like’ he thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Agron left Nasir changed into some jeans and a black t-shirt and walked outside into another scorching summer’s day. Everything seemed lighter, brighter somehow as if he had woken up in another world. His mind kept drifting to Agron and the night they had spent together. Agron’s hands caressing him, lips and tongue teasing and biting, Agron’s cock ramming so deep into him. It had been the best night of his life. He was amazed that someone like Agron had even bothered to look at a little gang kid like him.

Lost in these thoughts Nasir walked on auto pilot not really paying attention to where he was going. He walked down the backstreets of the town, a dodgy area but Nasir knew them well. They were almost always deserted. Now though, Nasir felt like he wasn’t alone. Someone was following him. He picked up his pace, all thoughts of Agron dissolving. Looking to the right and left him he couldn’t see anyone so stopping dead in his tracks he spun around. The street was empty. He let out a small laugh, silently cursing himself for being so paranoid. As he turned back around his head was slammed back as a fist appeared from out of nowhere and cracked him full in the face.

Nasir flailed back trying not to fall on his ass. His vision was blurred as tears stung his eyes. He felt a body slam into him and press him roughly against a wall keeping him pinned there with an arm on his throat.

“What the fuck?!” he rasped trying to break his attackers hold on him but was silenced when the stranger kneed him hard in the groin. Nasir cried out and a wave of pain coursed through him. The arm was back at his throat and Nasir could feel hot breath burning at his neck.

“I know your secret you fucking queer.” An acid voice spat the words into Nasir’s ear.

Nasir knew that voice. His eyes were still burning but he didn’t need to see to know who was hurting him.

“Quin! Get the fuck off me!” Nasir pushed forward but was rewarded with a punch to the kidney.

“I came to get you last night but you were too busy being fucked by that dumbass soldier! You were moaning like a bitch you little shit. Are you his whore now?”

Quin pressed harder on Nasir’s neck choking the breath from him. Nasir was going to pass out but just before the darkness of unconsciousness took him, the grip was loosened and he was able to breathe again. Nasir opened his eyes, tears running down his cheeks, and tried to focus on Quin. He was standing a few inches from Nasir holding a short bladed knife in his hand. Nasir owned one just like it but never carried it around with him. ‘Idiot’ he thought. Quin advanced on Nasir and pressed the blade under Nasir’s eye.

“We don’t want any fucking homos in The Wild Dogs. Do you hear me, little man?” Nasir’s heart lurched at these words and Agron’s face flashed before his eyes. Quin took the blade away from Nasir’s skin and started waving it in front of his face.

“I always knew there was something off about you. I never figured you were a cock sucker.”

“You can’t be fucking serious!” Nasir yelled trying to move away from Quin inch by inch.

Quin launched himself at Nasir again and his head hit the wall. The world spun and Nasir felt like he was going to throw up. The blade was on his face again above his right eyebrow. Quin dragged the knife down hard drawing blood and slicing open the skin in a long line. Quin let go of Nasir and he fell to the ground holding his face in his hands.

“I wonder if your lover boy will want to touch you now I’ve ruined your pretty little face?!” Quin was laughing.

Nasir wanted so much to get up and fight. Get up and kick the shit out of Quin who had been his friend and brother for all those years. But he couldn’t stand, the pain was too much and his head was pounding. Darkness was seeping in and Nasir felt himself drift in and out of consciousness.

The last thing he saw was Quin’s feet stepping towards him and a foot swinging towards his face.

Then. There was only black.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nasir is a gang member with no direction in life. Agron is a soldier on leave.

“Agron?” Nasir mumbled. He could taste blood in his mouth and he felt like he was floating. Opening his eyes he tried to get his bearings but the throbbing in his head sent a flash of stars across his vision. Nasir’s eyes slipped closed again. Faint sound’s drifted to his ears. The clink of keys, a door opening, sturdy footsteps on a wooden floor. Nasir forced his eyes open a crack and realised he was being carried. Slung over someone’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Groaning as he was placed on the couch Nasir tensed up when he realised where he was. He knew this house well. Oenomaus’s house. Quin’s words rung in his head “We don’t want any fucking homos in The Wild Dogs.” Oenomaus had been almost like a father to Nasir but he couldn’t help the stab of fear that he was in danger here. After all, he would have never expected what Quin had just done. He looked at Oenomaus who was rushing over to Nasir carrying medical supplies.

“Nasir what happened?! Who did this to you?” Oenomaus looked so concerned as he held up Nasir’s chin to look at his wound in more light. He wasn’t involved. Nasir felt a pang of guilt for ever doubting him. Hissing in pain as Oenomaus’ fingers probed the bleeding cut “Fucking hell you need to get this seen to, Naz. I’m taking you to hospital.” He strode away and grabbed to phone to order a taxi before Nasir had the chance to protest.

Pulling himself to his feet Nasir hobbled over to a mirror on the wall and gasped at his own reflection. He looked a mess. A split lip, the deepening purple of two black eyes to accompany the fucking great big gash over his eye. Not to mention the bruises to his ribs and stomach and the throbbing in his crotch. The bastard had really done a number on him.

Oenomaus returned to Nasir’s side and guided him to sit down again. “Who did this?” He asked a little more firmly this time.

Nasir looked at the floor. He knew he had done nothing to deserve this but he still felt ashamed. “It was Quin.” It came out as a croak tainted with anger and tears. He waited for Oenomaus’ reaction but his face was placid, unmoving, like he was deep in thought. Nasir leaned his head against the back of the couch. At this point he didn’t care. The only thing in his world right now was pain. Pain and Agron. ‘Oh shit’ he thought remembering that he was meeting Agron in a few hours. He ran his hand over his forehead.

“Come on, the taxi is here.” Oenomaus patted Nasir’s knee and helped him up and out to the car. They travelled to the hospital in silence and Oenomaus waited patiently in the waiting room while Nasir got stitches and a thorough check up. He grimaced when the doctor told him that he would have a scar but was lucky he hadn’t lost an eye. The nurse tried to get Nasir to talk to the police but he refused and asked to be discharged as soon as they had finished with him. Reluctantly they agreed. Oenomaus collected Nasir from his room and took him outside into the glaring sunshine to another waiting taxi. Oenomaus’ continued silence worried Nasir more than anything else. The taxi pulled up at Nasir’s house and he moved to open the car door.

“Do you need to stay at mine for a while Nasir?” Oenomaus finally spoke staying Nasir’s hand on the door handle. “I will be fine. Gratitude, for everything.” He was still a little confused about Oenomaus’ lack of reaction. “Quin did this because of your new friend didn’t he?” The question wasn’t really a question. Nasir got the feeling that Oenomaus already knew the answer so he just nodded feeling the sting of tears in his eyes again. “I will take care of this Nasir. You have my word.” Nasir flew forward and hugged Oenomaus tightly, shocking the man slightly, the relief he felt that he had Oenomaus on his side was overwhelming. Releasing the man he eased himself out of the car and watched it drive away.

Nasir looked around him cautiously and hurried, as fast as he could, to the front door. The beeping from his mobile phone made him jump and he looked down at a new message as he shut and bolted the door behind him. It was Agron. Of course. He wanted so much to call him. To have Agron come to him and be held and kissed and protected. But he had already gone too far with this. He had only known Agron for a short time and he was already being caught up in all Nasir’s fucking drama. He was going to have to end it.

Limping into the bedroom Nasir crawled onto the unmade bed and curled up in the blankets. He could smell Agron’s aftershave and the musk of their love making. Nasir looked at his phone again. ‘Dinner at 6 still ok? Looking forward to seeing you ;)” Growling, Nasir slammed his fist hard against the wall behind his head. With all the pain he had taken today he thought, what was a little more?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5:56pm

“Do you think it’s him? He’s still pacing up and down outside. I think he’s limping a bit.” A lean, sandy haired man turned away from peering out of the window to look questioningly at a dark haired woman sat reading at the dining table. Spartacus was wearing a military t-shirt and jeans.

“You could go and find out?” She looked at him over the edge of her book.

“Mira, are you going to be pissy with me all evening? I thought we were going to discuss us after Agron’s date had left?” Spartacus put his hands on his hips and tilted his head to try and catch Mira’s eye. Mira rolled her eyebrows but kept her eyes firmly on her book. Spartacus was sure she hadn’t once turned the page since she picked the damned thing up.

“Spartacus! What are you doing just standing around? Set the table would you? Mira, get your ass up from that chair and make some drinks or something… just something useful.” Agron had bounded into the living/dining room from the kitchen looking decidedly flustered. He was wearing an apron over his best shirt and jeans that had the image of a gladiator’s torso, all rippling muscles and bulging thighs, on the front. He had a speck of cream cheese on his face and his cheeks were flushed pink.

“Agron, you’ve got to calm down man. It’s just dinner. Stop stressing!” Spartacus chuckled and patted his friend on the arm.

“I know but I…” Agron sighed. ‘But I really like him.’ He finished in his head. He didn’t want to come across as desperate to his friends but he had never felt like this about anyone before and never so quickly. “I’ve just never made this meal before and I don’t want to fuck it up.”

Spartacus and Mira both smiled fondly at Agron. He was so adorably transparent.

“Actually, I think Nasir might be outside. Someone has been pacing about outside for about ten minutes. Is that him?” Spartacus gestured out of the window. Agron frowned and pulled the curtain back slightly. Sure enough Nasir was standing in the street, hands in his pockets, staring up at the house. He looked different somehow but from this distance Agron couldn’t make him out properly. God’s! Had Nasir had second thoughts? He had been to forward, he knew it. Nasir’s text reply earlier that day hadn’t exactly been a declaration of love, ‘Yep 6 is good, see you soon.’ But it was at least positive. A wave of dread and made his muscles tense and his fingers clench and unclench. He had pushed Nasir too fast. Fuck!

“I’ll go and see what’s going on.” Agron said leaving Spartacus and Mira looking confused and more than a little concerned. Despite the size and bravado of the man, Agron was vulnerable at times and both of his friends were fiercely protective over him.

Agron walked slowly but surely down the gravel drive, pebbles crunching under his boots. Hearing his approach Nasir turned a little so he was looking down the street. Preparing for a quick getaway? What was going on? Agron decided to put on his best Agron front, dimples on show, and pretend like there was nothing wrong.

“Hey, you look lost little man, do you…? Holy shit Nasir!” Agron finally saw the state of Nasir’s face, his lip was swollen and his black eyes were an angry purple colour. The main event was his right eye. At least ten stitches held together a deep cut running from above his eyebrow to halfway down his cheek. Agron went to cup the left side of his face but Nasir held back keeping distance between them. “What the hell happened?! Are you ok, I mean fucking hell of course you’re not ok! Fuck who did this to you Nasir?!” Agron was breathless and Nasir felt like throwing himself into Agron’s arms when he saw the pained look on his face but he simply held his hand up to stop him saying any more.

“It was a mistake. I walked right into the middle of a street fight and no one cared that I wasn’t involved. One guy had done all this before he realised and shoved me away. It looks worse than it is, really.” Nasir had made sure to wear a trilby hat to hide the gash on the back of his head and a black long sleeved top to hide any flowering bruises. Agron looked deep into Nasir’s hazel eyes. For a moment he didn’t think Agron believed his quite frankly, poor as piss story, but then he took Nasir’s hand in his. “Let’s go into the house and get you some water or vodka or painkillers or something.” Agron pulled gently on Nasir’s hand but Nasir stood his ground. “Agron, I need to talk to you. I can’t’.” Agron surprised Nasir by placing a tender kiss at the side of his mouth, pretty much the only place on his face that wasn’t sore. “Let’s go and sit and have something to eat then we can talk.”

Agron tried Nasir’s hand and this time he was carried along beside him. He tried not to look at Agron directly. His worried expression made him want to sob so he kept his eyes low. Low enough to notice the ridiculous apron. “What on earth is that?!” Nasir pointed at Agron’s torso. “Ah, yes well, I didn’t intend to have this on when you got here.” Agron’s blushed cheeks deepened and he squeezed Nasir’s hand gently. Nasir managed a small smile. This was going to be harder than he thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the initial shock and horror Mira and Spartacus showed to Nasir’s injuries they greeted him warmly, sitting him down on an easy chair and pampering him with drinks and even an offer of a neck rub from Mira. They asked him none too probing questions about himself and his life and seemed genuinely interested in his compact but polite responses. Agron was right. They liked him and he really liked them. Fuck! He kept meeting Agron’s gaze. He had so many questions burning in his eyes that Nasir could almost read them but Agron didn’t voice them. He served up dinner, steak with mustard and cream cheese sauce, huge garlic potato wedges and spring greens, giving Nasir an extra large portion. Nasir enjoyed the small talk at the dinner table and gritted his teeth through the pain to laugh at Spartacus’s jokes. Agron kept touching his arm and his back reassuringly and Nasir just wanted to crawl under the table and die.

All feeling full after what proved to be more of a gourmet meal than Agron had anticipated they all retreated to the comfy sofas.

“That was amazing Agron.” Mira stretched like a lazy cat and rubbed her belly happily. “You’ve got quite the catch here you know Nasir!”

Nasir bolted up from the sofa. “Can I use the bathroom… please?”

“Erm, yeah. It’s the first door at the top of the stairs.” Agron replied trying to fathom if Nasir was alright.

“Thanks.” Nasir fled from the room and then all eyes were on Agron.

“You ok?” Spartacus asked and Agron shrugged chuckling, unsuccessfully trying to hide his hurt. “Mira, let’s leave them to it.” Mira nodded and got up from the sofa and hugged Agron tightly before following Spartacus into the kitchen and closing the door behind her. Nasir took an age in the bathroom and Agron had started to think that he had scrambled down the drainpipe to escape when he walked sheepishly back into the room.

“Where are the others?” Nasir asked glancing around the now empty room.

Agron stood but didn’t approach Nasir. He didn’t know why but he felt like Nasir was afraid of him, or someone? “They were tired. They both apologise for not saying goodbye.” Agron paused. “Nasir have I done something wrong? I want to help you. To look after you. After what happened to you today I’m just about ready to murder the fucking bastard who laid their hands on you but you can barely look at me. I thought you wanted me…” Agron’s last sentence trailed off to a whisper that broke Nasir’s heart. ‘I do want you’ Nasir thought but he was going to have to be cruel to be kind.

“I don’t want to see you again, ok? This was a mistake. Gratitude for a great night but I’m going now.” Nasir turned away from Agron and headed to the front door.

“Wait! You don’t mean that. You’re lying to me!” Agron was shaking. He wanted to grab Nasir and kiss him and forget what he had just said. “What about last night. Didn’t it mean anything to you?”

“I was confused. It wasn’t, isn’t what I want.” Nasir spoke into the door, refusing to turn and look at Agron for fear he would see the despair in his heart and the lie on his lips. “Apologies.” With that last word Nasir flung the door open and raced out into the night, darkness consumed him and Agron was left alone. Haunted.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nasir is a gang member with no direction in life. Agron is a soldier on leave.

Three days had passed since the attack and Nasir was feeling a little less tender. He hadn’t left the house at all in that time but he hadn’t had any time to really process anything. Oenomaus had made sure he wasn’t left alone for long. There were always one or two members of TWD buzzing around him, bringing food or sitting watching trash on TV, just to keep Nasir company. Oenomaus himself checked in on him a few times.

“So everyone knows about me right? And it’s not a big deal?” Nasir asked Oenomaus.

“Why should it be a big deal Nasir? You’re gay. You are the same person we have always known. Our brother. Quin is the one with the problem.”

“Still no sign of him?” No one had seen or heard from Quin since he assaulted Nasir. Nasir figured that was one of the reasons TWD had stayed so close to him. He regretted his urge to leave the gang. They had shown unquestioning loyalty and he knew he would never be able to repay them.

“No, but he will be back sooner or later.” Oenomaus looked at Nasir reassuringly. He tried not to worry too much about it but hard as it was to admit it Nasir had really been shaken up and couldn’t face seeing Quin so soon. He had remembered to start carrying his knife in his pocket now, just in case.

An owl hooted in the gathering darkness outside and Oenomaus glanced at his watch. Nasir feigned a yawn and rubbed his eyes. “I think I’m going to go to bed.” Smiling inwardly at himself, it was funny having to practically force Oenomaus to leave! “I think I’m going to go out for something to eat in the morning so would you let the boys know I won’t be here?” He had spent too much time in hiding and wanted to take back control of his life. He wasn’t weak and didn’t intend to keep acting like he was.

“Yeah I will. You sure you are ok? I can meet you if you want?” Oenomaus stood and walked to the door.

“Nah, I’m fine. To be honest I’m sick of the sight of you all! Need some time alone y’know!” Nasir grinned mischievously at Oenomaus who let out a hearty laugh.

“You are definitely back to your old self. Goodnight Naz.” Still chuckling as he walked away, Nasir kept the grin on his face until Oenomaus disappeared into the night. He closed the door and the smile dropped from his face. He was alone. The night was his time to think and the only thing on his mind was Agron.

Nasir switched the TV off and poured a glass of water before retreating to the bedroom. He tugged his t-shirt over his head, throwing it in the corner and let his jeans fall in a pool around his feet. Turning to the full length mirror propped up against the wall Nasir ran his fingers along the purply yellow bruises running down his sides. The bruises continued around under his belly button and hid under his boxers. At least the pain had dulled slightly. He hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep since the beating and it was taking its toll. Lying down on the bed Nasir stared up at the ceiling and a familiar face materialised in his mind.

He had treated Agron like shit. Nasir screwed his eyes tight shut as tears formed and his mind travelled back to the night they had met. Agron’s easy smile, beautiful eyes that reached into Nasir’s soul. But it was the man’s heart that Nasir had fallen for. He was in no way arrogant and seemed blissfully unaware of how damn sexy he was. Connecting with someone on such a close emotional level was unknown to Nasir but Agron had made it so easy. That night had changed everything for Nasir and he had let it go. Let someone who could be the love of his life slip away. For the third night since he threw Agron away, Nasir cried himself into a fitful sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A soft knocking.

Nasir was dreaming. He was at the beach, strolling at the water’s edge letting the water lap over his feet. The sun was warm and he breathed in deeply. He was happy. An arm snaked around his waist from behind followed by a face nuzzling his neck. He turned to look at Agron who what grinning down at him revealing dazzling white teeth and impossibly cute dimples. Agron held Nasir close, his hands intertwined at the small of Nasir’s back. Leaning down Agron kissed the tip of Nasir’s nose.

A soft knocking.

Nasir stood on his tiptoes feeling the gritty sand scratching at his skin. He threaded his fingers through Agron’s hair and took his earlobe into his mouth, sucking and tickling with his tongue. He grinned at the low moan this elicited from Agron. Agron’s hands loosened on Nasir’s waist and moved south to rub the flesh of his ass. Nasir nipped at Agron’s ear leaving teeth marks before taking his mouth in his own. Agron’s tongue pushed into Nasir’s mouth exploring and tasting. Full of passion and growing lust. Agron leaned into Nasir’s body making him sit down on the damp sand and kneeled down himself scooting up to rest between Nasir’s legs.

A soft knocking.

“Mmmm Agron.” Nasir turned over in bed opening his eyes. The realisation that the knocking was not part of his dream hit him. He sat up quickly, heart beating rapidly. It couldn’t be Quin? Stepping quietly out of bed he thought about peeping out of the window to see who was outside. The clock on the bedside table glowed 01:16am. No, he strode to the front door and opened it a crack pressing his feet into the carpet in case whoever it was tried to force their way in.

Agron.

Nasir couldn’t hide the shock on his face just as Agron couldn’t hide the pain on his. His eyes looked bloodshot and tired and he swallowed hard, biting his bottom lip.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” Nasir replied quietly.

“I er, I was just wondering if I could crash on your couch?” Agron asked.

Nasir frowned but opened the door wider regretting it immediately when Agron’s eyes focused on his battered body. Bruises revealed by the orange glow of the street light. Agron looked shocked, not knowing the full extent of Nasir’s injuries, but didn’t speak. It wasn’t his place anymore Nasir thought sadly. Nasir turned tilting his head, motioning for Agron to follow. Nasir grabbed a shirt and put it on, feeling over exposed.

“What’s happened?” Nasir felt awkward and uncomfortable. Agron must be feeling the same because he couldn’t keep eye contact with Nasir and was clenching his hands together unconsciously.

“Erm, an old friend of Mira’s has come to stay for a couple of days with her boyfriend. They have been breaking up now for about two hours.” Agron forced a smile but it only lasted a second. “Look I wouldn’t have come here otherwise but the screaming is deafening and well I’ve not been sleeping well and I’m exhausted. I don’t know anyone else here so didn’t have anywhere else to go. It was Spartacus’s idea really, he didn’t think you’d mind. I just need a few hours sleep.” He was rambling but he was so tired he didn’t notice. “Please Nasir.”

“Yeah, of course its ok. I’ll get you some blankets.” How could he say no to that gorgeous pleading face? Nasir went into the bedroom. Out of Agron’s sight he leaned his head on the wardrobe door and took some deep breaths. Agron was here in his house. His heart was pleading with him to go and apologise and tell Agron how he feels. His hand went to the now scabbed over cut on his face. He would not risk anything like this happening to Agron. He would have to carry on being a total dickhead. Grabbing some blankets and one of his own pillows he walked back into the living room. Agron was sitting down on the couch his head resting on the back. Nasir placed the blankets on the arm of the sofa and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Goodnight then.”

“Gratitude.” Agron said and lay down pulling the blanket over him hiding his face from Nasir. Nasir went back to bed and clutched his knees to his chest. Feeling guiltier than ever he cursed himself silently. He knew that he was the cause of Agron’s sleepless nights and gods he looked so lost and sad. He closed his eyes and wished for sleep to come quickly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morning came. Nasir opened one eye and saw the clock reading 06:39am. At least he had gotten a little sleep. It had taken forever for his mind to stop racing, especially as he could hear Agron’s steady breathing in the next room. He had wanted to creep into the living room and snuggle up next to Agron but had tossed and turned instead, before sleep finally took him. Shuffling to the edge of the bed he sat for a while listening. He couldn’t hear Agron’s breathing or any movement.. He stood and approached the door only to find the living room deserted. Stepping fully into the room Nasir saw the pillow and blankets, neatly folded and stacked on the arm of the sofa. There was a note on the top.

Nasir’s heart sank. He had really wanted to see Agron. He hadn’t fully realised how much he had missed him until he showed up on the doorstep. Picking up the note he sat and read it.

‘Nasir, gratitude for letting me stay the night. I hope it wasn’t too uncomfortable for you. I just wanted to tell you that you mean a lot to me and if you ever need anything I am here for you. I don’t know what changed between us but you need to know that I never meant to hurt or confuse you, Agron P.S Feel better soon x”

Agron thought that he had done something wrong. That he had hurt Nasir in some way. Nasir chewed on his lip and read the note again. He had to talk to Agron. Needed to explain and apologise and try to earn Agron’s forgiveness. Forget trying to spare Agron the drama of being with him. He rushed into the bedroom and pulled on the same clothes he had discarded the night before. Quickly shrugging his leather jacket on the left the house and headed off into town. Figuring he would find Agron back at Spartacus’s house he took the same route he had taken what felt like a lifetime ago.

This time though he didn’t stand in the street he marched up to the front door and rang the doorbell. Suddenly he wasn’t sure what he was going to even say to Agron. But he had no time to think about it. The door opened and a woman with long smooth blond hair stood looking at him with a ‘who the hell are you’ look on her face. “Yes?” She asked sharply taking Nasir by surprise. The angelic looking woman had bite.

“Um, is Agron here?” Nasir asked nervously.

“No, he’s gone out for a run. Come in and wait for him if you want.” The woman left Nasir on the front step. Hesitating for a moment Nasir stepped into the house. The woman, presumably the one who had driven Agron away last night, flopped down on the sofa and looked curiously at Nasir.

“So are you his boyfriend then? The one he’s been moping about the house for?” Subtlety was not a trait she knew well it seemed.

“No, I’m not his, erm, I’m Nasir.” Nasir felt his face flush.

“Hmmm. I’m Chadara.” She said raising her eyebrows like she didn’t believe for a minute that he wasn’t Agron’s boyfriend. “I guess he was moaning about me and Rhaskos fighting last night, huh? We were only having a bit of a tiff! Don’t think there was any need for him to go off like that, we weren’t that bad.” Chadara seemed more annoyed at Agron leaving than her argument with her boyfriend. “We dated for a while you know, Agron and I, before he got it into his head that he didn’t like girls.” Nasir’s mouth was dry. He didn’t know how to respond to that. He could have made a smart remark of how Agron probably always knew he didn’t like girls but dating someone like her had pushed the confirmation over the edge. He thought that Chadara probably wouldn’t find that funny.

Nasir sat down, nerves building, his foot tapping on the floor. 

At the same moment Nasir and Chadara turned their heads at the sound of the front door opening. Chadara shot out of the room into the hallway trapping Nasir in the living room.

“Your boyfriend is here to see you.” Chadara spoke unnaturally loudly. For Nasir’s benefit?

“What?” Agron answered sounding confused. He poked his head around the door and Nasir stood and tried a smile. Agron looked back at him a little wide eyed and returned the smile.

“Hi.” Nasir looked at Agron’s smiling face, his heart swelling with relief. He looked over Agron’s shoulder to where Chadara still stood leaning against the door frame. Agron turned towards her and took hold of the door handle. “You don’t mind giving us a minute do you? Gratitude.” He shut the door on her before she had time to reply.

Nasir moved forward and took Agron’s breath away with an intense kiss grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him close. It took a moment for Agron to gather his senses but when Nasir moaned into his mouth he grabbed his hips and chased Nasir’s lips hungrily. Agron’s hands stroked up Nasir’s back and up to tangle in his loose hair. Nasir pressed Agron’s body flush against the door.

Agron pushed against Nasir’s chest slightly, breaking the kiss. “Wait, wait.” He said breathlessly, but Nasir continued the kiss sneaking his tongue into Agron’s mouth silencing him. The kiss continued until, eventually, they both needed to come up for air. 

Leaning his head against Agron’s forehead Nasir sighed and Agron placed a warm comforting hand on his cheek.

“I was not expecting that.” Agron whispered. “You give mood swings a whole new meaning, little man.” Agron laughed and jerked his body away narrowly avoiding a swipe of Nasir’s elbow. Nasir was so happy to hear Agron laugh again.

“I missed you.” He told Agron who stooped down and kissed the top of his head.

“Excuse me but I do need to come back in there when you two are quite finished!” Chadara’s shrill voice vibrated through the door and Agron rolled his eyes letting go of his grip on Nasir’s face. Nasir smiled and bit down on his lip to contain a laugh.

“How about we go and grab some breakfast and we can talk?” Agron swiped a beanie hat from the side table and took hold of Nasir’s hand. He opened the door quickly nearly stumbling over Chadara who practically had her ear pressed up against the door. Nasir couldn’t contain his laughter any longer and he leaned against Agron’s arm and buried his face in the sleeve of his t-shirt, muffling the sound. It felt good to be laughing again. Even better to be back by Agron’s side. Where he belonged.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nasir is a gang member with no direction in life. Agron is a soldier on leave.

“And that was all because he saw you and me…! That is so fucked up.” Agron sighed and jabbed his fork into a piece of French toast. “I’m so sorry.” Agron almost whispered the heartfelt words before he shoved a giant forkful of food into his mouth.

Nasir let out a laugh. It felt good even though he knew Agron was being sincere but the whole mess was ridiculous. And it looked like no topic could stop him from eating. “What?! I was being serious! If I hadn’t shown up here and…” Agron’s lips smacked together as he spoke through the mass of food in his mouth. “Dude? Shown up here and what? You didn’t… WE didn’t do anything wrong. Just because Quin turned out to be a total bastard doesn’t change anything. So stop apologising…” He held up his hand up before Agron could speak again. “And stop talking with your mouth full! It’s making me feel sick!” Nasir smiled and Agron winked and chewed messily, mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. “Jesus Christ Agron!” He threw a piece of bacon at Agron’s head and it hit him on the cheek before plopping in Agron’s coffee.

Being in the café again it was a nice sort of déjà vu. Just over a week ago he had sat, in the same booth he was in now, spilling his guts to a man he had met the night before. So much had happened in such a short time that his head was spinning. He had told Agron everything. The attack and Oenomaus taking care of him but hadn’t gotten to the whole treating Agron like shit part yet. Nasir’s eyes dropped and he didn’t speak for a minute or two. Agron let him and sat quietly sipping coffee.

“I didn’t want anything bad to happen to you.” He said finally. “Quin. What he did to me. I thought if I stopped seeing you, you would forget about me and… I’m in a fucking gang Agron! You shouldn’t want to be around me, you’re a really nice guy and I know I acted so…” Nasir looked up at Agron. Tears threaten to spill over his long dark eyelashes. “I… I’m sorry I treated you like I did. I’m so sorry.”

Agron reached across the table and took Nasir’s hand firmly in his own. He looked so intense that Nasir almost looked away. He felt embarrassed that Agron could have such strong feelings for someone like him. He was nothing. Nasir had never had a high opinion of himself but there was something about this beast of a man who had literally turned his world upside down that made him doubt himself even more. Why would Agron be interested in him? He hid his thoughts deep. He didn’t want Agron to see how insecure he felt.

“Look, I know we are…” Agron bit his lip in concentration “…well this is new for both of us but I really do care about you. Shit when you came to Sparty’s house that night and I saw you.” Nasir turned his face concealing the long scabbed cut from Agron’s gaze. It would scar. Marking him forever. Agron let go of Nasir’s hand and held his chin instead, turning his face gently to look at him again. “I was so scared and angry for you I just wanted to find the fucker that hurt you and wrap my hands around his throat. But… I wanted to take care of you more so I held it together. What was it you told me? You walked into a street fight?!”

“Yeah, I kind of knew it sounded like a shit story but I couldn’t say what really…” Nasir couldn’t finish the sentence. He was too ashamed that he hadn’t put his trust in Agron.

“I know. It’s okay really.” Agron sat back heavily against the smooth red leatherette seat and sighed. “I admit I was messed up when you bolted. I thought I had done something wrong. Pushed you too soon. I know what I’m like believe it or not. I know. All too fucking well, but I can’t help it. I grab life by the balls and sometimes forget to check if the people around me are willingly along for the ride.” His voice was strained and hurt. “I missed you. Gods those few days were torture! I just wanted to see you and make sure you were alright.”

“I’m…” Nasir began to apologise again. He couldn’t say it enough times. But Agron cut him off.

“No. Don’t say it. There isn’t anything to be sorry for. You were trying to protect me.” Agron smiled and sat forward. The tension and pain slipping away with a cheeky smile. 

“That’s all in the past now little man so let’s forget it okay?”

“Okay.” Nasir nodded and smiled.

“Okay.” Agron nodded his head firmly apparently satisfied that the matter was settled.

Nasir’s heart leapt. This man couldn’t be human. It was impossible to be that perfect and real wasn’t it? Agron belched and slapped a hand over his mouth eyes wide in shock. He had startled himself with his own sporadic bodily function. Nasir laughed so loud the waitress turned and frowned at them. Maybe perfect was a little strong. Almost perfect!  
They sat in a comfortable silence after that. Eating and drinking and looking at each other with what seemed like new eyes. The last fucked up few days feeling less raw and present than they did a few short minutes ago. They could start again. Whatever it was they were starting. Thing felt right between them again.

Nasir swallowed the last of his coffee, his cock ridiculously aware of seductive green eyes watching his adams apple bob up and down. Blushing, it was all he ever seemed to do around this beautiful bear of a man. Nasir let his tongue sneak out and swiped at the trace of dark liquid clinging to the corner of his mouth. It was Agron’s turn to blush this time.

“I’ve been dying to ask you something since we left the house.” Nasir spoke breaking the silent foreplay they were both so obviously enjoying.

Agron wiped his mouth with a napkin and tossed it on the empty plate in front of him. He smiled and laced his fingers together on the table. “And what would that be?”

“You really dated Chadara?” Agron groaned and bumped his head on his hands. Nasir reached over and mussed his hand through Agron’s hair. 

“It was a long time ago.” His words were barely audible as he was pressing his mouth into the back of his hands.

“What?!!” Nasir chuckled. “You mean before you realised you could get something sweeter elsewhere?!” 

Agron straightened up looking shocked. Nasir looked filthy and divine and his words melted like chocolate on Agron’s tongue. His blush deepened and he felt a drop of sweat trickle its way down his spine. 

“Erm… yeah. I knew I was gay but wasn’t really ready to accept it. It seems like a lifetime ago now. Chadara isn’t even my type but I was trying to prove something to the world, like anyone really cares right.”

“And she tipped you over the gay edge?”

Agron laughed and thumped his fist down making the empty cups clatter against the saucers. “Yeah, you’ve met her little man! She was too much for me!”

“She still likes you.” Nasir felt a bit sorry for the woman. It would be a difficult task to get over Agron if you were ever lucky enough to have him.

“Yeah I know. It’s awkward sometimes, especially when she’s had a few to drink. I thought her and Rhaskos hooking up would help but she still doesn’t get I’m not interested. Just too damn irresistible I guess.” Agron threw his hands up in mock exasperation and sighed sadly.

Nasir rolled his eyes but couldn’t keep the grin spreading on his face. This was nice. They had fallen back into the comfortable banter so easily that it felt like they had never been apart. It should be weird shouldn’t it? Feeling like you have known someone for years when it’s been what? Not even two weeks. Nasir shook his head and smiled more. It didn’t matter. Not when Agron looked at him like that. Smiled that wicked, electric, heart stopping smile.

“You all finished?” Agron nodded towards the plates on the table and Nasir nodded. “You pay up I’m just going to the bathroom.” Agron started to shimmy out of the booth but perched on the edge when he noticed Nasir fidgeting awkwardly. “What’s up?”

“I sort of forgot to bring any money with me.”

“Oh no! Then we have two problems. Firstly, you were meant to pay for our second date and secondly, I uh sort of forgot my money too!” Agron had started off jokingly but now looked deadly serious. Nasir stared waiting for Agron to crack and tell him it was a joke but his face stayed the same. “What! I had been out running and don’t take money out with me!”

Nasir looked down at the mass of empty breakfast plates and then scanned the diner. It was fine really. Agron could stay here and he could nip home to grab his wallet. He was just about to suggest this simple plan when Agron grabbed hold of his arms and leaned over the table.

“Let’s make a run for it!” 

“What! No way!” Nasir happened to love this café and didn’t want to lose his favourite place to eat because he had been banned fuck you very much Agron.

“Come on it’ll be funny! I’ll get up and walk casually towards the door then you wait until I open the door and then you can quickly get up and…”

“Please tell me you are joking…” Agron grinned and stood up. He wasn’t joking. “Wait!” Nasir hissed and Agron started to stride closer to the exit. Just as Agron started to reach out to open the door he spun on his heel and headed towards the counter. Nasir sighed and glared at Agron. The giant idiot! Smiling broadly at the waitress behind the till Agron unzipped a small pocket on the leg of his joggers and pulled out a note. He pointed towards Nasir and said something that made the girl giggle. Nasir couldn’t hear what he said but he knew it was about him so he continued to glare across the room.

“Your face!” Laughing and sitting back down opposite Nasir, Agron held his stomach, his whole body shaking. “You really though I was going to do it didn’t you?!”

“Bastard!” Nasir kicked Agron under the table but couldn’t help laugh along. “Come on lets go.”

Nasir stood and felt Agron’s hands slip onto his shoulders guiding him gently outside. The sun was high and people were walking around lazily. Everything was an effort in the stifling heat. Nasir breathed it in. He loved the summer, everything buzzing and warm. He turned and looked up at Agron who had raised his arm above his eyes to shield them from the bright glare. He slid his arms around Agron’s exposed neck and stood up on his toes. His lips covered Agron’s in a firm kiss. He felt Agron smile against him for a second and then they were sinking into the kiss together. Nasir moved his mouth slowly, sucking on Agron’s lips and sliding his tongue just far enough between them to brush behind his teeth. Agron brought his arms around gripped onto Nasir’s hips pulling him close. He tried to hide a wince when Agron pressed his fingers a little too hard on a bruise still staining Nasir’s side but he noticed and pulled away.

“Gods, did I hurt you?” Agron pulled his hands away but Nasir caught them in his hands and twined their fingers together.

“No, I’m fine. Just a bit sore.” He pressed his body against Agron’s hugged him tightly. He could cope with a little discomfort to be wound around his man again. Pulling back he looked up at Agron again wanting to claim those sugary lips again but it was as if a shadow had moved across his features. His brow was furrowed, deep lines creasing between his eyebrows. His eyes were dark, darker than Nasir had ever seen them and his jaw was set firmly his teeth clenched. He was looking behind where Nasir stood but when he turned to see what he was looking out he saw nothing but an empty street.

“Hey. What is it?” The words snapped Agron out of the trance he was in and he looked down at Nasir. His eyes were warm and his mouth turned up into a smile.  
“Ah nothing little man. Just day dreaming.” Nasir frowned. He didn’t quite believe him but as Agron started to walk down the street he followed and didn’t question him.  
“So how are you going to pay me back for paying for yet another date?” It was a not so subtle change of subject but Nasir wanted to play. “We’ve already slept together. What more could you offer me?” 

Nasir whipped his hand out and slapped Agron in the gut. “Fuck off!”

Agron took hold of Nasir’s hand as he walked. “Okay, okay! I have an idea of how you can pay said debt.” Nasir raised his eyebrows and Agron poked his index finger on his dimpled cheek tapping it a few times and bending his body down to Nasir’s level. Nasir laughed and planted a loud smacking kiss on Agron’s face.

“You’re such an idiot.” He giggled, bloody giggled and nudged his leg into Agron’s.

“Consider the debt paid.” Agron squeezed Nasir’s hand and they walked quietly down the street smiling happily.

“What did you say to the waitress back there?” Nasir suddenly remembered her little giggle in Nasir’s direction and was desperate to know what he had said to her.

“I told her I was treating my sexy boyfriend to breakfast.”

“Oh.” Blushing, his heart was doing somersaults.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nasir is a gang member with no direction in life. Agron is a soldier on leave.

When Nasir woke up Agron was gone.

There was a huge, Agron sized gap on the bed next to Nasir and for a horrifying moment, before he was fully awake he still believed that he had abandoned Agron and he was alone. His eyes darted to the cold sheets on his right and the relief hit him like a glass of icy water to the face, waking him up completely. There was a small folded note on Agron’s pillow.

‘Call me when you wake up beautiful.’

Nasir sighed and their reunion flooded back into his mind. After they had left the café yesterday they had walked around the town just talking about nothing in particular. They talked about little details about their lives and their likes and dislikes. Anything and everything to get to know each other better. They were so engrossed in each other stories that neither of them had noticed the black clouds rolling in overhead, until a fat raindrop splashed onto Agron’s cheek.  
By the time they had made it back to Nasir’s the storm was raging, cooling and breaking the blistering heat that had seemed to have lasted forever. Soaked to the skin they had tumbled into the house shaking with laughter, water pooling all over the floor under their feet. Nasir’s hair was plastered to his face in long dripping strands and Agron chuckled as he peeled them away from damp skin, tucking them gently behind Nasir’s ears. Nasir had looked up at Agron through dark eyelashes spotted with moisture and mirrored the fierce look of lust he had found burning in Agron’s eyes.

Agron had undressed Nasir slowly, careful of his bruises which were fading but still sensitive to touch. Agron kissed around them, tongue tracing hipbone and inner thigh. Agron’s hands were everywhere, hot and rough and soothing. Nasir couldn’t even remember how he had made it onto the bed because all he could focus on was Agron’s lips ghosting over his balls, his tongue licking a trail over the silky smoothness of his cock. Nasir had never known such pleasure, such tender passion and burning want. Agron had given him everything, holding nothing back and baring his soul without question. He had given Nasir everything that he was without any expectation of getting anything in return.

Nasir had fallen a little bit more in love with him for that. Okay, a lot more. And there was no way in hell he was going to let Agron’s generosity go unrewarded. The rain crashed down out in the dark and Nasir had given back everything he had and more. And Agron screamed out his name into the night.

Nasir fumbled for his phone and his lips curled into a lazy smile, the memory of the night’s activities still lingering in his mind as the phone chirruped merrily.

“Beautiful! You’re awake! I thought maybe I had put you into a sex coma.” Agron bellowed down the phone.

“Hmm you think very highly of yourself don’t you?” Nasir lazily stroked the soft skin under his navel, his fingers tickling the dark line of hair that ran down to his pubic hair. He shivered, remembering the dull scrape of Agron’s teeth on that same spot.

“Where are you?” he hadn’t intended for the words to come out quite so whiney but he couldn’t help it. It was becoming increasingly difficult to be away from Agron for any length of time. To not be able to touch him, taste him and feel his blazing warmth against his body at will, was just torture.

“I know. I miss you too.” It was as though Agron had read his mind. Nasir’s heart raced at the sincerity he heard in Agron’s voice. “Fucking hell we're like a couple of teenagers.” He laughed heartily and broke the thoughtful spell Nasir was under.

“So, where are you? I want your ass back in bed.” Nasir let his hand wander lower, stroking his hardening length gently. Agron was making him hard just by talking on the phone. Horny teenagers indeed!

“Urggg, I’m on my way to Sparty’s. Mira called earlier. She sounded upset. I think things between them have finally ended and she just needs me for moral support I guess. It’s been coming for a while but… well I don’t think Chadara is helping much so I’m just gonna see if I can help any. I didn’t want to wake you though. You looked so fucking hot when I left it was a struggle to get out of the door!” Agron laughed again but when Nasir didn’t reply he continued. ”So can I see you this afternoon? We can do something, I don’t know, maybe go shopping or something? A film…? Nasir, you there?”

Nasir was panting heavily down the phone. His hand clutched tightly around it while his other hand pumped rapidly up and down on his throbbing cock, the sharp twists from his wrist making him gasp.

“Nasir, what..? Are you…? Holy shit.” Agron’s voice cracked with a choked whimper and he gulped loudly.

“Yeah, yeah…” Nasir managed to speak somehow. His body felt like it was on fire and his brain was on the edge of exploding. “Call me later…” He panted. “…when you’re free… and… oh god… just for letting me wake up without… without your hands on me you can… oh… think about me now… aaah god… touching myself and thinking about you.”

Nasir ended the call and arched his back, coming hard over his hand and stomach and chest. He slumped back down onto the bed and lay still waiting for his breathing to return to normal. A smile tugged at his lips as he pictured a flushed, stuttering Agron trying to calm down so he could help his friends. With the image he had just painted in Agron’s mind he knew he was going to have some difficulty. He felt a little bad about it, but he really hoped he had affected Agron in the same way that Agron had affected him.

Nasir was a mess. Sweat and come were not a happy combination in the harsh light of day and his skin was starting to itch. Stretching his arms out above him, he sat up and wandered over to the shower. The hot water hit him and he let out a moan of pleasure. Nasir was changing. He could feel it in his bones. His life had to become more than what it was. Agron had changed everything. Reaching for the shampoo he nodded his head firmly. He had wanted to leave TWD for a long time but now he had a solid, real reason to finally make the move. His brothers wouldn’t be happy but he trusted them enough to hold on to the hope that they wouldn’t try to stop him. After what Quin had done they had all closed ranks, protected Nasir and swiftly expelled Quin from TWD. Quin hadn’t shown his face so he must have guessed his brothers reaction to his actions. No violence against each other. Ever. That was one of the only rules they had and there were no exceptions. Once anyone moved against one of his brothers he was out.

Nasir rinsed the lather out of his hair and soaped his body clean. The water reminded him of last night’s rain and his cock gave a valiant twitch of interest. ‘Gods, Agron is going to be the death of me’ Nasir thought and smiled. He rinsed of the last off the soap and switched the shower off, wrapping a towel around his waist. He needed to do something to pass the time until he could see Agron. Nodding to himself again, Nasir marched from the shower, feeling alive with hope and purpose.

~~~

Nasir did a very good impression of not thinking about Agron. He didn’t think about him while he made his coffee and burned his toast almost black. He didn’t cross his mind when he started to pack anything that held any connection to The Wild Dogs into plastic bags. He just wanted to have a clear out. A new start meant new things and that meant no reminders of his old life, his gang life.

And that was exactly how Nasir felt. It hit him like a bolt of lightning. His old life. His new life. It was so simple that he laughed into the silence of the room.  
NOT thinking about Agron, Nasir sat down heavily on the arm of the sofa. Agron. Of course it was Agron. Nasir knew he couldn’t deny that this was all Agron’s fault. He had ploughed into Nasir’s life, shaken his well laid foundations, swept him out of the rut his life had slipped into and placed Nasir firmly on a new path. Agron was a one man fucking hurricane. 

Nasir was totally in love. With a man who would be going back to Iraq. Going back to war. The thought made Nasir’s mouth go dry. A sickening churn of panic clawed in the pit of his stomach. He really didn’t know how to deal with that. He had finally found him. His one, his other half and he was going to be leaving in a ridiculously short time.

‘Does Agron even know what he has done to me?” Nasir thought.

Yes, turns out not thinking about Agron was impossible. He had melted under Nasir’s skin and had settled there, refusing to let go. And still he was leaving.

It was so fucking unfair.

Nasir’s phone bleeped making him jump.

‘Still kicking off here, you cruel fucker. I’ve got a hard on thinking about you and Mira is pissed and I want your ass. Meet you outside the café at 2 – A’

Nasir smiled and started to type.

‘That will teach you to leave before I’ve had my way with you. See you at 2 if you can still stand – N’

A minute passed and Nasir’s eyes didn’t move from the phone.

Bleep.

‘Had your way with me? Fuck I would make fun of that cheesy line if I wasn’t so turned on – dude seriously, stop it! – A’

Typing.

‘You want me to stop? – N’

Bleep.

‘Never. Never. Have your way with me anytime, beautiful. – A’

Nasir typed ‘I love you’ into the phone. The urge came suddenly but he just had the desperate need to tell him.

He deleted each letter slowly. “He’s leaving remember? Fucking think, Nasir.” He scolded himself out loud.

He was going to lose Agron. He had so little time to soak up every inch of the man who had single handedly changed his life. There wouldn’t be enough time, he knew, there wouldn’t be enough in a lifetime. There was just too much of Agron.

Nasir and typed again.

‘I miss you, see you at 2 – N’

Throwing the phone down Nasir got up and started packing away more things. And he definitely did NOT think any more about Agron.

~~~

He left the house at 13:45 on the dot, eager to see his lover again. A warm fluttery feeling spread in Nasir’s chest. He was on his way to meet his lover. He really liked the sound of that. Shaking his head, his loose hair flowing down his back, he laughed and felt lighter and happier than he had his whole life. However little time they had together, Nasir was determined to make the most of it.

Ducking under some low hanging branches, Nasir walked through the trees that surrounded his house and made his way into town. The storm had cooled the intense, suffocating heat of the last few weeks and Nasir breathed the fresh, clean air deep into his lungs. If he believed in silly things like being reborn he could have easily believed that this was the first day of the rest of his life.

Walking into the maze of streets, Nasir absently ran his fingers over the damp brick of the buildings and watched the steady flow of water running down into the gutters in the road. He picked up speed and hummed to himself contentedly. The café came into view at the end of the street and Nasir’s heart sped up to match the quickening rhythm of his feet.

Agron was like a gorgeous, tall beacon in the distance. Nasir was just about to break into a jog when his eyes drifted, to the man standing half hidden by Agron’s broad body. Agron was talking to Oenomaus. His feet stopped moving and he stood frozen and frowning on the spot. That was weird. Oenomaus had only seen Agron once, the day Nasir had taken him to the river. But that was only for a minute at most and they hadn’t even spoken if he remembered rightly. Oenomaus knew that they were together which meant that they must be talking about him. It left Nasir cold. They were talking about him behind his back like he was some sort of victim. 

No. Something about that didn’t sit right. He knew both men and they wouldn’t do that to him. But something was definitely going on. 

Nasir watched until Oenomaus clapped Agron on the arm and walked away and out of sight. Agron’s hands were clenched into fists and even from far away, Nasir could tell that he was angry. He couldn’t take it anymore. Nasir forced his legs to move and hurried to get to Agron.

“Hey!” Agron yelled as he turned and spotted Nasir. He closed the remaining space between them in a few gigantic strides and circled his arms around Nasir’s waist. He claimed Nasir’s lips in his own and pushed his tongue into his mouth, kissing Nasir slowly and deeply. Agron’s hand slid from Nasir’s waist to cup a firm ass cheek and Nasir moaned into his mouth.

They broke apart after a few minutes of standing clinging to each other and Nasir smirked at Agron.

“So you’ve been thinking about me then?”

Agron took Nasir’s hand with a roll of his eyes and they started to walk together.

“I could barely string a sentence together after… gods what you were doing on the phone.” Agron pulled at Nasir’s hand until he bumped into Agron’s side and they both laughed. Agron was blushing adorably. “I think you might have to be punished for being a cock tease later.”

Nasir raised one eyebrow and raised their joined hands up to his mouth and bit down on Agron’s thumb, hard enough to make Agron hiss.

Yeah, you wish.” Nasir purred and Agron nearly fell over his own feet.

They continued walking further into town where the small businesses and houses were replaced by large chain stores and a shopping complex.

“Is Spartacus and Mira okay? They broke up?” Nasir asked curiously.

“Yeah, they haven’t been on the same page for a long time. She wants to settle down and he doesn’t. They just grew apart I guess. I think they will be able to stay friends though. I love them both so… I don’t know I just don’t want to lose them.” Agron smiled but Nasir knew that he was thinking about his brother.  
“I’m sure they won’t let that happen.” Nasir wanted to comfort him and was pleased when Agron smiled at his attempt.

They made their way further into the bustling town. Nasir wondered where they were going but he forgot about it when he realised he didn’t actually care.

“Erm… did I see Oenomaus earlier? I thought I saw you talking?” He felt guilty for prying but he couldn’t escape his curiosity. He also couldn’t escape how Agron’s hand tensed and how the muscle in his jaw clenched.

“Oh. Yeah, he was just checking up on you. Making sure you were okay, you know… after. I think he was just scoping me out really. Making sure I was looking after you properly. He’s a good man.”

Nasir frowned. Oenomaus wouldn’t ask Agron how Nasir was. He would just speak to Nasir. 

‘Why were they really talking? And why did he look so angry?’ Nasir thought. Agron obviously wasn’t willing or able to tell him so he would let it go. For now.

“Yeah, he is.” He gripped Agron’s hand tighter.

Agron looked down, maybe sensing Nasir’s unease.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Agron asked.

“It’s just, I’ve decided I’m leaving.”

“Leaving?!” Agron stopped and their hands parted as Nasir kept walking a few steps before turning to see Agron standing still, looking horrified.

“No.” Nasir pressed his hands against Agron’s chest and he pecked a soft kiss on his cheek. “No, I just meant the gang. I can’t stay with them. It’s not me anymore. I mean they have been the only family I’ve ever had but I… uhhh I think I…” he paused and took hold of Agron’s hand needing to feel his presence.

“Tell me.” Agron said softly.

“I think I want to go to school. You know I’ve never been. Not properly, since my dad left and that was only pre-school really.” Nasir guided Agron forward and they started walking again.

“What were you thinking of studying?” Agron said with genuine interest and Nasir was thankful for not being judged. It just wasn’t in Agron’s nature.

“Literature I think. No, I know. English literature. I can’t seem to stop reading recently, well until someone started distracting me.” Nasir waggled his eyebrows.

“Oh, apologies!” Agron grinned, dimples flashing wildly and placed a sloppy, open mouthed kiss on Nasir’s neck. ”Seriously though, I think that’s great. I’ve noticed a lot of books at your place. English lit would be perfect for you.”

“Yeah I love it. I thought maybe, maybe if I got good grades I could go on to… I think I want to be a teacher.” Excitement coloured every word and Nasir grinned broadly.

“Really, that’s awesome!” Agron looked at Nasir and it was like it was the first time he had really seen him. Who he was as a child, the lost boy dragged up in a world that no child should ever know. And now as the young man who was only just claiming his life. Finally claiming who he is and who he wants to be. Agron felt a sadness so deep he was afraid he would let it show on his face. But more than that, he felt pride and love for this amazing person who had grown so much in the short time he had known him.

‘I love you.’

Agron let himself say it in his head but wouldn’t allow the words to form on his lips. It was too soon.

‘Too soon? What are you waiting for?' He thought but he wouldn’t let himself dwell on it. He placed another kiss on Nasir’s neck instead.

“I’m really proud of you.” Agron said and Nasir blinked, his dark eyes staring up at green ones in wonder. Agron laughed his beautiful laugh and pulled Nasir into the nearest shop. “Come on, I’ll buy you something pretty.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nasir is a gang member with no direction in life. Agron is a soldier on leave.

Nasir had never really been into shopping. The lack of money certainly didn’t help, but even if he did have the means he just thought it was well… boring.

Then again, he had never been shopping with Agron. He didn’t think that anything he did when he was with Agron could ever be boring. The man was like a big hulking child when it came to shopping. He practically skipped around the isles, dragging Nasir by the hand and pointing out things that were “awesome” or “fucking awesome” or any other variety of awesome that he could think of. 

In the end, the infectious enthusiasm of it all swept Nasir up and he found himself running around a toy shop of all places, hollering at the top of his lungs for Agron to come and see the “fucking awesome slip and slide!”

The manager politely asked them both to leave, wittering on about it being a family store, but the two men were laughing so hard they barely heard him.

Agron insisted on buying Nasir endless amounts of useless stuff. A pinwheel that he thought was cute, a notepad with a tree on the front because it reminded him of their ‘river date.’

“You can use it when you go to school.” Agron said with a grin, pride sparkling in his eyes.

Okay, maybe Nasir did like the sentiment with that particular gift.

A giant lollipop, some candles for a little atmosphere in Nasir’s bedroom because apparently Agron liked a bit of wooing and finally, a dream catcher from a stall in the centre of town.

“What is this?” Nasir eyed the purple feathery thing suspiciously.

“You’ve never seen a dream catcher before? Hmm.” Agron’s tone wasn’t patronising, just curious. He sometimes forgot that Nasir had been brought up in a very different world than he had. “It’s Native American, you hang it in your window and it’s meant to filter out bad dreams and only let good ones in.” He said through a mouth full of jelly babies. “You don’t have to keep it if you don’t like it…”

“No, no I do” Nasir quickly interrupted “I just feel stupid, I didn’t even know what it was…”

“Hey.” Agron stopped Nasir walking with a strong hand on his elbow. “You are not stupid. You’re amazing.”

Nasir’s skin warmed under Agron’s touch and they held each other’s gaze for what felt like an eternity.

“Agron, I…” Nasir faltered. His heart and head were making him dizzy. He wanted Agron more than anything. The three words he wanted Agron to know were stuck on the tip of his tongue. He was so close to telling him how he really felt, but this time his head won out. Agron was going to leave him. Nasir sighed. “Erm, you want to get out of here? We can put those candles to use.” He winked cheekily, hoping Agron couldn’t see that he was shattering into a million pieces.

Agron looked down, his hand going to the watch on his wrist and looking a bit sheepishly at the time.

“Ah, I have to go actually. I’ve got some stuff to do. Fuck, I didn’t realise the time.” The darkness of evening had crept up on them without either of them noticing. “Can I see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, yeah sure.” Nasir had learned to read the subtle changes in Agron’s voice and face and he knew instantly that he was keeping something back. Not lying, Agron wouldn’t do that, but there was something… what stuff did he need to do? “You want to meet somewhere or you can just come over whenever?”

“I’ll come over. I like seeing you all sleepy in the mornings.” Agron leaned in and their mouths met. Soft strokes of lips, the gentle swipe of tongue against tongue and Nasir moaned his pleasure, trying hard not to grind his hips forward. They were still in the middle of the street after all.

“Okay.” Nasir sighed, his eyes still closed from their kiss. When he opened them Agron was looking away. “I had a really great day. I just wanted to thank you.”

Agron’s eyes settled on Nasir again. “I had fun too. Really, it was great. I’m really glad I met you, you know that don’t you?”

“Yeah I do.” Nasir was sure he could hear his heart beat through his chest it was pounding so hard.

“I should go.” 

Nasir pouted. He never pouted but he was pouting like a champion now.

“I don’t want you too.”

“I know beautiful, but I… look I will come over really, really early tomorrow.” Agron pulled Nasir into his arms and Nasir buried his face in the warmth of his boyfriend’s chest. “I’ll wake you up nice and slow, just how you like it, make you beg a little huh?” Agron tangled his hands under Nasir’s hair, holding on to the smooth curve of his neck. It was amazing every time he held Nasir just how perfectly they fit together, Yin and Yang.

Nasir jabbed a finger into Agron’s abs.

“Hmm okay.” He nuzzled closer to Agron, not quite ready to let him go. “Fine, abandon me now see if I care.” 

Agron chuckled and Nasir felt it vibrate through him like the rumbling of thunder cloud.

They broke apart and Agron smiled down fondly.

“See you tomorrow.” He said.

I love you.

“See you tomorrow.” Nasir replied.

I love you.

Nasir turned and headed home, his arms full of crazy, wonderful gifts and his heart full of love and despair.

~~~

It was too quiet. Even to pretend to read.

The dream catcher twisted lazily in the breeze coming through his bedroom window.

Nasir couldn’t concentrate on the words. Fucking Agron pushing every other thought out of his head. He closed the book and took out his phone.

He couldn’t call Agron. He was busy with… something… whatever.

He could call Oenomaus. He was probably busy. Nasir had started to distance himself from the gang. He needed to start to break away from them if he wanted to start his new life. It was just… he was horribly aware that when he wasn’t with Agron he was pretty much alone.

Nasir felt restless, on edge and not nearly tired enough to go to bed. 

Grabbing his jogging bottoms off the end of his bed he took of his jeans and pulled on the softer, more comfortable trousers. His bruises had almost faded now and they didn’t feel as tender when he touched them. His face wasn’t completely healed yet though. He traced a finger over the raised scab running down over his eye and onto his cheek. It would mark him for life, a constant reminder of his friend’s hatred and betrayal. How could Quin hate him for being in love? He couldn’t make sense of it.

The mark would also be a daily reminder of how Agron had scarred him. Scarred him so deeply that he would never be able to look at his own image in a mirror without seeing the other half of his heart looking back. When Agron left, and he was going to leave, Nasir would have to carry on with his life. Would he be able to he wondered. Just carry on and live like Agron had never existed.

He sighed and went out into the dark, closing the door behind him and locking it. He would have to do the same thing with his heart. Lock it away and keep it hidden. Maybe then he would be able to survive in his little world without Agron.

Nasir’s feet moved. A slow jog at first and then quicker and quicker until he was sprinting through the streets. He wanted to feel his lungs burning, his muscles screaming. He wanted to run until the sting of tears in his eyes was dried by the wind.

Running further into town, the thump, thump, thump of his footfalls against concrete helped to still his thoughts. 

He was just about to stop to catch his breath and turn back when a familiar form caught his eye. Nasir would know the shape of Agron’s body anywhere. He was walking stiffly, tension obvious even at a distance. Nasir watched, not sure what to do. Agron had told him he was busy and that he couldn’t meet Nasir but here he was. 

Agron was walking away from where Nasir stood and just as he was about to call out to him he saw who Agron was walking towards and the words died on his tongue.

What was Agron up to?

Nasir knew that it would be something he wouldn’t like.

Against everything his heart was telling him he had to know what Agron was doing behind his back.

He started walking, anger and determination pushing him, and followed his lover like a tiger stalking its prey.

~~~

Agron really hated this, he wanted it, but it felt like he was betraying Nasir. Hopefully he would never find out about it he thought but, it didn’t make him feel any better.

He walked quickly and quietly to the edge of town. Most of the buildings were deserted, derelict houses and shops marked for demolition. It wasn’t somewhere that he was going to be disturbed.

Turning a corner Agron saw Oenomaus standing waiting for him, looking tense. Agron approached and nodded a silent greeting, his own body humming with anticipation.

“Are you sure about this… you could let us handle it. You don’t have to involve yourself in this mess.” Oenomaus looked at Agron, offering him an out. He could still walk away from this. He was a really good man Agron thought and he was glad that he has been the one to find and take care of Nasir as a child.

“The minute that little fucking coward touched Nasir it became my mess.” Agron replied, his fists clenching.

Oenomaus nodded solemnly and walked Agron around the side of the building without another word. A flickering streetlight cast an eerie glow on each member of the gang’s backs. A semi-circle of bodies crowded against the wall penning Quin in a human trap. He was pacing, making futile attempts to barge his way free but the boys who used to be his brothers stood firm, like one living organism binding them together.

As Agron approached, Oenomaus tapped one of The Wild Dogs on the shoulder and he stepped back letting Agron into the space in front of them.

Quin’s face blanched, his lip curling into a sneer meant to cover up the fact that he was cowering under the deadly glare of the man now towering over him.

“What the fuck is this?!” Quin’s eyes darted around the line of men and boys. They held his startled gaze but no emotions showed in their eyes.  
“Oenomaus! He isn’t one of us, you can’t…”

Agron walked slowly, crowding Quin so he was backed against the cold crumbly brick behind him, his hands splayed out at his sides. Quin started to shake and Agron bared his teeth, enjoying the feeling that Quin was now feeling as scared as Nasir must have felt.

“Nasir sent his bitch to get back at me huh? The little cocksucker doesn’t have the balls to face me himself. Where is he? Cowering away in your little love nest.” Quin spat at Agron’s feet.

Agron grinned and pressed his body over the smaller man’s. He leaned down so that his lips were level with Quin’s ear.

“Here’s how this is going to go.” 

Agron’s hot breath penetrated Quin’s flesh forcing his heart to contract painfully at the menacing threat he could hear in the big man’s words. 

“You get to throw the first punch. I know how much you like doing that. I know how you like kicking the shit out of… what was it you said to Nasir… a fucking homo wasn’t it? So, now it’s my turn boy” Agron leaned even closer “but you had better hope you knock me out with your first hit because I have been waiting a long time for this.”

Quin’s eyes were wide, the whites catching the flashing streetlight and highlighting the liquid fear flowing through his body.

Agron took a few steps back and waited. The crowd at his back moving like an ocean wave to give him more room. 

“Are you scared Quin? What are you waiting for, huh? You want to hurt me like you hurt Nasir don’t you? He was your brother, your friend right? And that was easy for you, to cut his face and kick and punch him, so what are you waiting for?” 

He was being baited, taunted into striking out. Quin took a few steps away from the wall, his hands balling into fists and his chest puffing out to try and appear bigger than he was.

“What the fuck are you waiting for you little shit? Hit me!” Agron yelled.

Quin snarled and rushed forward, running at Agron and swinging his right fist as he jumped. His knuckles connected hard to Agron’s mouth, the crunch of bone on bone made a sickening sound that rippled into the stillness of the night. Agron’s face snapped to the side with the sudden impact but his feet stayed planted to the ground. Quin stumbled back like he had hit a brick wall and he clutched his hand to his chest. He stared at the man towering over him again, his teeth digging into his bottom lip and just waited.

Agron touched his mouth lightly with his fingertips. When he looked down at his hand there was a crimson smear of blood staining his skin. He turned his head slowly, a dark line of blood running from a split lip and trickling down his chin. A flash of tongue swiped at the hot wetness and when he turned to look at Quin his teeth were painted red. A feral look was in Agron’s eyes and his bared teeth released a deep throaty growl.

“No” Quin screamed as Agron surged at him, one large hand wrapping around his throat. His back slammed against the wall knocking the air out of his lungs. Gasping, he was lifted off the floor, his legs dangling feebly as Agron used his arm to wrench Quin’s body up and up.

Agron squeezed. He wanted to keep on squeezing. His rage was threatening to blind him but he took a deep breath and his head cleared. He wasn’t going to hurt Quin, however much he wanted to. There was no way he would be the same kind of person as the scum who hurt the man he loved, that would make him no better. He just wanted to scare the bastard enough to think that he would. Agron could snap his pathetic little neck in an instant.

He let Quin go and he crumpled to the floor, gasping and spluttering and clawing at his throat.

Agron crouched down, his knees inches away from Quin’s stuttering chest and he pinched his fingers into the clammy skin of Quin’s jaw. He twisted his hand so that Quin had no choice but to look up at Agron’s eyes, full of searing green fire and venom.

“You are going to leave this town forever” he nods quickly over his shoulder “the boys here will make sure of that. But listen to me very carefully you ignorant waste of fucking space. If I ever see you again or if you dare so much as breathe near Nasir I will fucking kill you.”

It was a light whisper, like a feather on the breeze, but the way it slid like a shard of ice from Agron’s mouth made Quin’s blood run cold. The deep fear that Agron had planted in his heart affected him more than a kicking from the giant beast ever could. He nodded weakly, almost unaware that he was doing it and Agron glared in disgust.

A hand on Agron’s shoulder startles him and he lets go of the vice like grip on Quin’s face to glance quickly at whoever was behind him. He was expecting Oenomaus. What he definitely, definitely wasn’t expecting was to see Nasir’s face looking down at him.

Nasir’s jaw is clenched, the muscles twitching and pulsing as he grinds his teeth together. His dark eyes scan over his lover’s face and for once, the only time since Agron fell in love with this man, he couldn’t read it. He doesn’t know what Nasir is thinking and it hurt.

“Move away from him” he said slowly and his eyes left Agron’s face and settled on Quin, still slumped by the wall.

Standing slowly, Agron backed away, suddenly nervous and unsure of himself. Nasir commanded such presence and power in that moment that Agron felt dizzy with the feeling of it. He ended up shoulder to shoulder with Oenomaus who was watching Nasir with the same intensity as Agron.

“Get up.” Not a hint of emotion tainted Nasir’s voice, his face void and expressionless.

“Fuck off” Quin croaked hoarsely.

Oenomaus had to hold Agron back when he tried to bolt forward, fists ready to silence Quin’s poisoned tongue.

Nasir held up one hand and Agron stopped struggling immediately.

He hauled Quin to his feet himself, digging his fingers into the meat of Quin’s arms hard enough to bruise.

He had thought about what he would say to Quin if he ever saw him again a million times. Should he ask him why? No, the answer wouldn’t matter. He thought about maybe trying to make him feel guilty about what he did. Tell him how much he relied on him growing up, how he looked up to him, his brother… his best friend. After thinking about it for so long, Nasir knew that nothing he could ask and no answer Quin would utter would satisfy him.

The sharp snap of Quin’s nose breaking made Agron gasp. He had barely seen Nasir slam his forehead into Quin’s face before it was over and Quin was lying unconscious on the floor.

When Nasir turned there were tears in his eyes and streaked in little silvery trails over his cheeks, from the hard blow to his head or because of the finality of the moment Agron didn’t know. A small line of blood leaked out from Nasir’s hairline but it was ignored by the little man, or unnoticed.

He marched through The Wild Dogs, parting like the red sea for him to pass. 

“Nasir! Wait!” Agron called, running to catch up as Nasir rounded the corner. “Hey, wait!”

“Don’t” Nasir spun on his heel, blood and tears mixing on his face “don’t fucking follow me!”

Agron stood frozen, his mouth open in shock and pain as Nasir turned his back on him and walked away.


	9. Chapter 9

“Nasir! Wait… please!”

Agron’s feet finally remembered how to move and he scrambled after his fleeing boyfriend like the hounds of hell were at his heels.

“Stop would you…” He held Nasir’s arm and spun him round to face him. Nasir shrugged off Agron’s gentle hand but didn’t try to walk away again. “Why are you so angry at me? I… I thought you would, I dunno, be proud of me or something. Fuck! What is it? What did I do wrong, beautiful?”

Agron searched his lovers face, genuinely confused. He had wanted to protect Nasir at all costs and now that he was the cause of the pain he saw overflowing in those wide, gorgeous eyes he couldn’t take it.

“Please, Nasir.”

The younger man sighed, some of his initial anger and frustration seeping out at the sight of Agron looking so distressed. Every perfect little thing that Agron did lately made Nasir’s heart ache, like the stupid thing was plotting to stop and kill him at any moment. Agron cared so passionately and fiercely that Nasir couldn’t imagine having to live without it. Live without the delicate touches and the bruising embraces in the night. He wouldn’t see Agron’s whole face light up whenever he saw him, those irresistible dimples and the smile lines that creased around his eyes.

“I… I was mad that you lied to me and went behind my back. You think I want you fighting my battles? I don’t. I’ve taken care of myself long enough Agron, I don’t need you to… you can’t keep… fuck…” He wasn’t really angry for that but he couldn’t reveal the true reason, not if it hurt Agron.

Nasir shoved past him and started walking again. He was angry at himself now, for feeling this way and for showing it to the man he loved. He could feel Agron following him, but the bigger man stayed a few steps behind, giving him space. 

After what felt like an eternity, but was only a few minutes, Nasir heard Agron speak. It was barely a whisper.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you I just thought… I thought if I scared Quin enough you would never have to see that worthless shit ever again… I… I thought if I took care of it for you it would be easier for you to move on. If Quin went away you could forget any of this ever happened, start your new life.”

Nasir stopped walking. His new life. His life was nothing without Agron.

“You can’t keep doing this…” Nasir turned and looked up at Agron, a frown and dazzling green eyes looking back at him “… everything you do for me. It’s too much and I can’t… it makes everything harder… you protect me and you buy me these ridiculous, amazing things that have so much meaning to you AND to me. When I told you I wanted to go to school you didn’t laugh, you encouraged me.” 

Agron frowned deeper and opened his mouth to protest or something? Nasir didn’t know. He placed his fingers over Agron’s mouth to stop him speaking anyway.

“You’re too much and I’m not worth it… you deserve to be happy and when you act like this, it’s like you want me and it just makes me love you even more and… it’s so hard. Agron, I didn’t ever want to see Quin again and what you did, you did it for me and I…”

Agron cupped a hand against Nasir’s cheeks, his thumb wiping away the last traces of damp tears. Nasir stopped rambling and draw in a long shuddering breath, his hand falling to his side. 

Nasir hadn’t noticed the slip but Agron had.

“What did you just say?” Agron leaned in so that his face was only a few inches from Nasir’s.

“Erm… what?” Nasir bit his lip. Agron followed the subtle movement with his eyes. As the hint of teeth disappeared behind Nasir’s lips again, Agron kissed him. It was soft. Just a brush of lips, warm and tender and Nasir closed his eyes and let Agron do it. He kissed Nasir like it was their first time, his fingers dancing lightly over the skin of Nasir’s jaw and neck. 

A moan escaped Nasir and he tugged on Agron’s shirt, gripping on to keep him from flying apart at the feel of such an intimate embrace. He wasn’t sure what he had said to make Agron react this way but he was too caught up in the feel of his boyfriend’s lips to be able to think straight.

When Agron pulled away he pressed his forehead to Nasir’s and took a deep breath, his eyes closed.

“You love me.” It wasn’t a question.

Nasir gasped. He had said it, not even realising and now Agron knew. He felt sick, his head spinning. He wanted so much to say the words again because god knew he meant them. Meant them more than any other words he had ever spoken before. He lowered his head and fought against the sting of tears in his eyes.

“Hey, look at me.” There was so much joy in Agron’s voice that he couldn’t not look at him. What he wasn’t expecting to see was a big shit eating grin on his lovers face.

“Seriously? Could you look more fucking smug right now?” Nasir laughed and a weight he hadn’t realised he was carrying was lifted. 

“Gods! Do you know how long I’ve wanted to tell you I love you? From… um, I guess the second time I saw you. I knew the first time we met, but I just put that down to me being a huge idiot. I mean, who falls in love in what, three minutes? And I didn’t know if I would see you again, but then in the café when I saw you and you chewed my ear off for hours and you were so cute and bright like a little electric spark. I just knew I would never love anyone else, ever.”

Agron surged forward and kissed Nasir again, more forcefully this time. Nasir grunted with the shock of it but circled his arms around Agron’s waist as he was pressed back against the cold wall. This kiss was deeper, in all senses of the word. Nasir opened up for Agron, their tongues wet and hot sliding together in perfect harmony. Hips meeting, a sweet grinding that made them breathe in stuttering gasps. Agron stroked Nasir’s hair, tugging on a few strands that he knew would drive Nasir wild.

Trailing his hands down to Agron’s hips, Nasir dug his fingernails into the smooth muscle under the fabric of Agron’s shirt. It was frantic and fevered and perfect.  
He loved him. Agron loved him back and it was as if all his fears and the pain of Agron leaving had been put to one side. He had to face it again but now… Agron felt the same and he was deliriously happy.

“I love you so fucking much.” Agron sighed into Nasir’s mouth when he broke the kiss. They were so close they could feel each other’s hearts pounding against their chests.

“I love you too. I love you. I love you.” Nasir chuckled and traced a finger into each of Agron’s dimples. “Huh, it’s nice saying it out loud for once.”

Agron laughed happily and kissed Nasir’s forehead making him hiss in pain. Agron pulled away quickly when he realised his lips had touched the small cut caused by Quin’s nose. 

“Fucking bastard!” Agron glanced angrily back the way they had come. 

“Come on let’s just go…” Home was on the tip of his tongue, but Nasir trapped it before it escaped. They both still had a lot to talk about, he was sure Agron hadn’t forgotten the other things Nasir had blurted out. 

For now though, knowing that they were together in this was enough.

Hand in hand they walked towards Nasir’s house. The wind had picked up sweeping dry leaves around their feet. 

Nasir could taste the words unspoken between them. It was as if Agron was unwilling to shatter the temporary bliss that had blessed them with its presence. He was more than happy to let the illusion last a little longer.

The night was still young and Nasir wanted to drink it all in. As they reached the door to the house, Nasir turned with a knowing grin on his face. He hooked a finger into Agron’s belt loop and tugged, dragging his love towards him with a growl.

It was a good night to be in love.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a while... must try harder is my new life motto! :)

The next few days went by in a whirlwind of sleeping, eating, love making… Nasir liked calling it love making instead of fucking now that they were officially ‘In Love’… and other less fun but awesomely nice activities like watching films, playing video games and pretty much just lounging around. 

Oenomaus has called the morning after the incident with Quin to tell them that he and the boys had ‘escorted’ Quin out of town. He had gone quietly, which Nasir didn’t believe, and that he had promised never to come back, which he definitely didn’t believe. But at least it was something, a small weight off the both of their shoulders. Oenomaus had apologised to Nasir over the phone for going behind his back and helping Agron. He could tell that Oenomaus had felt equally as guilty when Nasir had showed up that night but Nasir assured him that there was nothing to forgive. He didn’t say it but the fact that Oenomaus had trusted Agron enough to do that, to want to protect Nasir from that hateful fucker and even had TWD there to make sure Agron was safe meant more to Nasir than he could ever know. He thanked his friend and saw Agron smile knowing that he felt the same.

Agron hadn’t mentioned that night again. He was too happy and Nasir could tell he was just trying to make the sweet little bubble they were in last as long as he could. It made his heart ache with sadness that their time together was so limited. The development in their relationship was so bittersweet, so new and fresh and beautiful but in a way it was always doomed to fail. Agron would be going soon, they both knew it and somehow it was easier to accept it as inevitability. They just had to savour the time they had now.

Agron had been… savouring all morning. 

“I would never have thought you would have a foot kink.” Nasir squirmed in the rumpled sheets as Agron licked a long line from the heel of Nasir’s foot to the arch and hummed like a bear tasting honey.

“Ahh, that really tickles babe.” He wrenched his foot away and Agron laughed, crawling up the bed to cover Nasir’s body with his own like a human blanket. “Any other fetishes I should know about? Thing for cross-dressing?” Nasir asked as Agron kissed his forehead and chuckled as Nasir mocked him. 

“I wouldn’t say no to you wearing something small and lacy,” a large hand stroked down Nasir’s side settling low on his abdomen, “maybe I should make a special trip to the ladies underwear section next time I go shopping. Pick out something pink. Silk, maybe.” Fingers traced loving circles in the coarse hair above Nasir’s cock which was taking a real interest in Agron’s gravelly words. 

“You…oh… you know I was joking right?” He wasn’t actually sure if he believed it now that he was hard just from thinking about Agron pulling some silky knickers off of him with his teeth. Nasir wrapped his arms around his lover, relishing the smooth skin and taught muscles shifting and rolling underneath as Agron rocked against him. 

“Mmm, yeah but,” Agron looked up from where he was nuzzling Nasir’s nipple and looked at his little man with a wicked grin, “I’m sure you could come round to the idea. I know I could.” Nasir bit his lip and Agron winked, clicking his teeth like some cheesy porn star.

They both grinned like their faces couldn’t hold their smiles, cheeks splitting like cartoon characters. Nasir couldn’t help it, it was such a funny image, however turned on he was he just couldn’t help the bark of laughter that burst from his lips. Agron laughed and ducked his head down to rest on Nasir’s chest, both body’s shaking at the humour of the moment. If he had one chance, one chance to freeze time Nasir thought that this would be his perfect moment. Agron in his bed, loving him, laughing, those goddamn fucking gorgeous dimples looking so good Nasir wanted to dip his tongue into the dented flesh. It was perfect.  
Somewhere in the little room Agron’s phone started ringing, a crashing thrash metal song that Nasir couldn’t name if there was a gun to his head. He thought, with a roll of his eyes at just how sappy he had become, that the sound of a shredding lead guitar and head banging drum beat was just… Agron. Nasir rolled his eyes at himself again and stroked the soft hair at the base of Agron’s neck.

Agron huffed out a frustrated breath, leaning over to grab at his mobile, vibrating on the bedside table. He was far too busy to care about answering his fucking phone. He looked at the screen and tossed it back down next to the bed leaving it unanswered.

He settled back on top of his boyfriend and lazily kissed a trail over Nasir’s jaw.

“Who was it?” Nasir asked. He dug his fingers into the soft mounds of Agron’s ass when Agron nibbled at his earlobe.

“No one that can’t wait, beautiful. Now, where was I?” He whispered softly into Nasir’s ear, grinding his hips in a circle that made them both shudder. The slide of Agron’s cock against his own had him arching his back. 

Nasir’s head tipped back on his pillow. He soaked in all the warmth and passion and dirty moaning that filled their little sanctuary. He was glad Agron hadn’t answered his phone. Keep the world out. Just for a while longer.

~~~

“Dude your phone again!” Nasir yelled from the living room. Agron was singing in the shower. Either he was ignoring Nasir or he actually couldn’t hear him over the wailing. Seriously, if Nasir had neighbours he would probably have had to send out apology gift baskets to compensate for noise pollution.

“Hey yeaaah, I’m the one that you wanted…” 

Agron really had no concept of volume control.

The phone stopped ringing only to start up again a few minutes later. Nasir looked up from his book and frowned. He didn’t want to answer but whoever was calling was really fucking persistent. Putting his book down he walked into his bedroom, smiling at the sight of Agron’s head and shoulders swaying happily behind the shower screen. The giant could barely fit in Nasir’s tiny shower but he made it work. His eyes were closed and he was nodding along to something blasting from his iPod.

“Hey!” Nasir shouted.

Agron opened one eye and grinned.

“Hey yeaaah, I’m your superbeast…” He pointed at his boyfriend at the last line. Nasir was incapable of not smiling back. He motioned by using his hand against his ear and mouthing the word ‘phone’ but Agron just closed his eye again and started to lather shampoo in his hair.

Nasir walked back into the other room. The phone had stopped ringing and after a few minutes of standing and staring at it like it was going to grow legs and run out the door or something he sat back down and picked up his book. Not that he could really concentrate, he had been letting his mind wander to the naked Adonis in the other room more times than he could count. 

When the phone started ringing again Nasir snatched it up and scrambled back into the bedroom before it had chance to ring off again.

“Agron your…” Nasir almost choked, stopping mid-sentence at the sight of a dripping wet stretch of golden body standing in front of him, “…it’s ringing again… your phone.” Agron didn’t speak. He stalked forward, a little smile playing on his lips. It wouldn’t be difficult to read the lust in Nasir’s eyes and Agron wasn’t going to deny his boyfriend anything. “No, no don’t you try distracting me,” Nasir tried backing away but was stopped by Agron crowding him against the wall, practically crushing him. Nasir gripped Agron’s shoulders and felt himself being lifted off the floor. He had no option but to wrap his legs around Agron’s waist, he really didn’t and if his heart fluttered at the intimacy of the action then he didn’t really care at that point.

They kissed, tongues lapping slowly, like they had all the time in the world. When Agron broke the kiss he hummed contentedly and buried his face in his lover’s hair.

“I love you Nasir. I, I wish I didn’t have to go back to Iraq.” It seemed that Agron was able to talk when he couldn’t see the pain in Nasir’s eyes. The subject was hard for both of them. “I never thought I would say that but now, things are different. I’m different. I’m going to talk to Spartacus about reducing my term and maybe if I could come home earlier to train rookies or do something because I can’t be away from you. Not after everything that’s happened. I… I know where I belong now.” He sighed and nuzzled his lips against Nasir’s neck.

Agron’s insistent phone broke the hazy silence and Agron released his grip letting Nasir drop gently to the floor. They looked at each other for a moment, filled with promises and hope and then Agron took the phone from Nasir’s fingers and answered as he strolled into the kitchen.

“Sparty! Dude, what’s up?” Agron grabbed some bread from the side and started to construct a sandwich. “Got any nutella?” he whispered to Nasir, standing watching him from the doorway. Nasir pointed at the top cupboard earning an air kiss from Agron in reward. He grabbed the half eaten jar of chocolaty perfection and scooped up a generous knife full to spread on the soft white bread.

“Well, I have sort of had my hands full recently.” Agron grinned and handed the first sandwich to Nasir with a quick peck on the cheek. “Yes, I… okay. Yes’ Sir I can be there in ten minutes. Sure.”

“Yes’ Sir?” Nasir chuckled, “Sounds very…” he raised his hand to his forehead and saluted, “…official.”

Agron was frowning, just enough for worry lines to show. “Hmm? Oh, yeah, Sparty gets all sergeant major on us when he’s pissed. He said he must have called twenty times. Anyway, I have to go see him so I’ll be right back.” He stuffed the edge of his sandwich in his mouth and accepted the clothes and trainers Nasir passed him. “See you in a bit.”

“Okay. Hey, I love you.” Nasir pulled on the neck of Agron’s t-shirt and kissed his nutella tasting lips.

“I know.” They both laughed. “Won’t be long.”

Agron left and Nasir took the opportunity to shower without being molested. He thought about what Agron had said about trying to reduce his time in Iraq. He didn’t have any clue if it was possible. He knew Agron had served before so maybe that would have some influence the second time. Something deep inside told him that it was a slim hope, but he would hold onto any hope for dear life. 

The water turned cold after a few minutes.

“Fuck!” Nasir yelled as the freezing spray made his skin tingle. “Fucking gigantor!” 

Wrapping a towel around his waist he went and made another snack and curled up on the sofa. He opened an envelope shoved under his books and scanned through the contents. The application to the community collage looked daunting and he wasn’t sure if he was even capable of filling it out right. He picked up a pen and wrote his name at the top. The first step, he thought. For the first time in his life he was anxiously happy with the uncertainty of what would come next. But with Agron at his side, he knew he could face anything.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dunno what happened with this chapter? It's a Nasir chapter and I hope it works with the fic... I dunno?!

While Agron was off seeing Spartacus Nasir decided to go for a walk. The sun was warm, but there was a light breeze in the air and it was just the right comfortable temperature to be out at midday.

He left his jacket at home just taking his backpack and strolled, not in the direction of town, but towards the outskirts of the neighbourhood.  

The application to the community college had been just as complicated and confusing as he had feared and so Nasir decided that he should get up off his ass and do something productive. Going to have a look around campus and maybe even speak to a lecturer for some help was something that just a few weeks ago would have seemed impossible. But he wasn’t in a gang anymore and he had a life to start. The thought was exciting and terrifying all at the same time.

He hopped over the broken wall that marked the edge of town and made his way towards the nearest bus stop. Looking down at his ripped jeans and scuffed trainers Nasir wished he had something better to wear, not that he was going to impress anyone, but still, he didn’t want to come across as a thug or a total lost cause.

When the bus arrived Nasir got on and sat on a seat by the window at the back. He took out a book that he had stuffed in his bag before he left home and flipped to the page he had last read. Nasir absorbed the words with pleasure, eyes skimming over the black words and feeling their steady heartbeat. Reading was one of the first things Oenomaus had taught him to do when he had found Nasir and he would never forget the sense of wonder when he was able to connect the letters and understand what they meant. It was one constant point of _good_ that had always been there when Nasir was feeling alone or depressed.

The sun streamed through the curved glass window and Nasir smiled.

“What are you reading young man?” An elderly lady was smiling at him from across the bus. Her face was kind and her were eyes a piercing blue, not marred or clouded at all by her age. She seemed intrigued by him and her expression was curious. She reminded Nasir of a little bird.

Nasir cleared his throat and turned to face her.

“’Pride and Prejudice,’ it’s one of my favourites. I must have read it fifty times already.” Nasir laughed and touched the cover of the book lightly, his fingers catching on the bumps and grooves gathered over the years of loving use.

“It’s one of my favourites too. In fact I read it once a year; it’s a sort of tradition for me I suppose. My eldest sister, there are three of us, gave me the book on my sixteenth birthday and shortly after that she passed away.”

Nasir looked horrified. “I’m so sorry…” he said, the words fading in his mouth. What could he say?

“Oh, there’s nothing to be sorry for, my dear. I think about my sister now with nothing but happiness. She gave me something wonderful to treasure.” She shuffled a bit closer to the isle and Nasir did the same. “What do you like about it?”

Nasir paused and thought for a minute. It was one of his favourite books and there was so much to like about it that it was hard to choose just one thing to talk about.

“I like Elizabeth the best and her spirit… she’s so different to her sisters and has a strength that I admire, I suppose. Like when she first meets Mr Darcy…”

“At the ball, yes, that is one of the best parts for me too…” the lady responded, their conversation blending together seamlessly like they had known each other for a lot longer than two minutes. “Mr Darcy seems so harsh and aloof at first and even though Elizabeth doesn’t like him she’s intrigued by him.”

“Yeah, I didn’t like him at first. He’s a bit confusing.” Nasir smiled. It was new to find such a kindred spirit. “I like all the letters in the book too, how they used to speak back then is interesting. It’s a shame people don’t write letters anymore.”

“Everything is done by texting messages nowadays.” Nasir smiled at her choice of words. “There is no substance or passion in that if you ask me.”

Nasir couldn’t agree with that, not completely anyway. When he was away from Agron they would text each other all the time and there was definitely passion and substance there. He would smile and his stomach would flip when he read his boyfriends thoughts on the screen of his phone. They were no less real or meaningful because they weren’t written with ink. He knew what she meant though.

“Maybe I should start writing actual letters?” Nasir laughed softly.

“Ah, you have your own Lizzie to write to? That’s nice.”

Nasir bit his lip. The lady didn’t seem the kind to be prejudice and he trusted his instincts. Besides, he had nothing to be ashamed about.

“Actually, I have a Mr Darcy,” Nasir said and smirked. He would have to remember to tell Agron _that_. It was sure to make him roar with laughter. “He’s a soldier and he’ll be leaving in a few months to do another tour of duty.”

He looked down at his lap and felt the familiar pang of sadness that he carried with him every day. The pain grew stronger as the time when Agron would leave him got closer.

“He is a brave man,” the woman spoke solemnly. “You love him, and he you?”

Yes,” Nasir said quietly and looking back at the lady’s kind eyes. He could see his own despair reflected in them clear as day.

“Then I suggest that you do think about writing to him. It will be something for him to hold onto and know that you aren’t too far away.” She reached out a tiny wrinkled hand and patted Nasir’s knee tenderly.

“But… he’ll be too far from _me_. What will I have to hold on to?” Nasir frowned. What would he have? He knew that Agron loved him, but would he want to break up before he left. It would probably be the wisest thing for both of them. Agron would be gone for a year... two, maybe three. Fuck, he had no idea. He sucked in a deep breath and sighed loudly.

“Maybe you should have him read this.” She tapped the book on Nasir’s lap. “Get your Mr Darcy to write to you too. If you both love each other then it makes no difference how many miles are between you.”

Nasir thought about this. He liked the idea of writing to Agron and getting letters back in return. It would be romantic and maybe even enough to keep the relationship going and he wanted that badly.

They were nearing Nasir’s stop so he pushed the book back into his bag and stood up.

“I’m Nasir.” He held out his hand and the lady took it, curling her fingers around his own. "It was really nice talking to you.”

“You too, I’m Ellen… are you on your way to the college?”

“Yeah, I’m hoping to enrol, but I don’t think I have much chance.” Nasir gripped onto the hand rail as the bus swung around a corner and the community college appeared at the end of the street.

“My nephew is a lecturer there, Quintus… you should try to see him. I’m sure he will be able to give you the help you need.”

“Really, that’s awesome? Thank you.” Nasir beamed and pressed the bell for the next stop.

“Good luck to you, young man and to your soldier too. I hope everything works out for you both.” Ellen smiled and patted Nasir’s hand. “Goodbye Nasir.”

“Bye, have a good day and thanks again.”

When the bus stopped just outside the college, Nasir stood by the side of the road and gave Ellen a little wave as she went past. He was still nervous, but after talking to Ellen he felt a bit more confident. He could do this. Sure, he didn’t have a typical education to speak of and he had been raised in, well, not the most conventional of families, but he was smart and willing and… so desperate for this. He wanted something for himself for once and he wasn’t going to give up until he got into this fucking college.

Nasir crossed the street and pretty much marched into the foyer, his face set in a determined expression. His face fell a little as he looked around the empty reception and realised there was no one there to see his determination.

“Hello?” He called out, but there was no reply. Nasir walked over to the desk and noticed a buzzer for visitors to press if they needed assistance so he pushed it and waited.

A few students walked past and Nasir smiled and nodded.

“Oh, I’m sorry, have you been waiting long? I had to show a new student where the medical room was, uh, I don’t do well with blood and… I’m sorry, you don’t want to know!”

The woman who Nasir assumed was the receptionist pulled a face like she was going to hurl and then smiled the most dazzling smile. Nasir blinked at the contrast. She looked like she was two completely different people at once.

“I’m Ilithyia, how can I help you?” The beautiful blonde propped her chin on her hand and batted her eyelashes.

“Um, hi… I was hoping to speak to someone about enrolling actually. Is there any chance I could speak to professor… damn I don’t know his last name? Professor Quintus…?” Nasir said and lifted an eyebrow.

“Professor Batiatus is who you want. He’s in room 420, but I think he’s in the middle of a lit class right now.” She clicked a few times on the computer and then nodded. “Yeah, he’s teaching for another half an hour. You can have a look around while you wait if you want to?”

“I will thank you erm… where is room 420 for when I need to find it?”

“You see that corridor,” she pointed and Nasir followed her lilac painted fingernail and nodded. “Walk down there and take the stairs at the end go up and keep going straight down the corridor at the top and it’s the very last door. A bit of a trek from here. This place is like a maze.”

They both laughed and Nasir turned and walked away. He figured if he walked slow enough he would be able to dawdle his way to the classroom in half an hour.

 

~~~

Nasir watched Professor Batiatus through the small glass window in the door to the room where he was teaching. It had only taken him ten minutes to get to the room, but Nasir was happy enough to sit on the windowsill and watch the class.

Whenever he had seen things on TV about schools or colleges the kids had always been messing around, throwing paper and making fun of the teachers. Nasir didn’t really know what a real school was like, but because the only access he had had was in soap operas so his ideas were a bit unrealistic.

The class he had been watching for the last fifteen minutes were nothing like the boisterous troublemaking scenes he was familiar with. The students were engrossed in the lecture and were debating something that most of them seemed very passionate about. Nasir couldn’t take his eyes from their faces. He could only hear muffled words so didn’t know what the subject of their discussion was, but he was intrigued.

Every now and again the professor would walk past the window gesturing wildly with his hands. He had a loud voice and even through the solid door Nasir could just make out the one main phrase that he kept yelling.

“Jupiter’s cock!”

It was definitely not what Nasir had been expecting.

When the class finished, Nasir stood up straight and clutched his enrolment papers in his hands. The last student left the classroom and Nasir gathered his courage and knocked on the door.

“Mr Batiatus? I’m sorry to bother you but…”

“It’s no bother and please, it’s Quintus. Come on in.”

Nasir walked into the room and closed the door behind him. He noticed Quintus drop his gaze to the papers in his hand, but he didn’t comment.

“What can I do for you?” Quintus perched on the edge of his desk and gestured for Nasir to take a seat, which he did in the front row.

“I wanted to try to… I want to enrol here and I have these forms,” Nasir’s words were spilling from his lips and his palms were sweating with a really inconvenient rush of nerves. He thrust the papers in Quintus’ direction and then nervously dropped them on the desk he was sitting behind.

“You’re having trouble filling them out?”

Quintus stood and took the papers, casting his eye over the sections Nasir had been able to fill out and the sections he had left blank.

“All you need to do here is put in the grades you have already,” Quintus said, handing the papers back.

Nasir blushed. “I… I don’t have any grades. I never went to school, but I really want to learn and I know how to read and write so I won’t need extra tutoring or anything I just…”

“Hey, hey it’s okay, slow down. How old are you?” Quintus held his palm upwards and his question indicated that he wanted to know Nasir’s name.

“Oh… Nasir, I’m twenty one.”

“Nasir… okay, so you haven’t had any schooling?” Nasir shook his head and Quintus rubbed his chin. “Why do you want to go to college?”

Nasir’s mouth opened in shock. He was not expecting that question at all. Quintus was looking at him with an odd, expectant look in his eye and Nasir didn’t want to make a bad impression.

“I want to better myself. I know I can do this I just need someone to give me a chance. I want to become a teacher eventually… I think I would be good at it.” Quintus nodded slowly, but again he left the speaking to Nasir. “Look, I know I’m not exactly a great candidate to be accepted here, but I really want this. There isn’t any other way I can… get past how my life used to be. I’m a hard worker and I wouldn’t skip classes, just, please… if there is any chance that I could enrol…” Nasir frowned and looked down at the forms on the desk. He didn’t know what else to say.

“Today’s Friday, right?”

Nasir’s head snapped up. What was with this guy and his weird questions?

“Erm… yeah,” Nasir replied, still puzzled.

“Come back and see me on Monday and bring me something you’ve written. If you haven’t got anything then write something over the weekend.”

“Are you serious?” Nasir stood up and moved around the desk. “You aren’t kicking me out?”

“Nasir, it’s not your fault you didn’t have the opportunity to go to school. What sort of teacher would I be if I continued to deny you the opportunity? Leave your forms with me. I can sort out the boring details and formalities. You will probably have to start next term now, but I don’t see there being any problems.”

“Holy fuck, you aren’t joking.”

Quintus laughed and stood up, facing Nasir and patting him on the back.

“I like to think I have good instincts about people. I can see how much you want this. You took a chance in coming here and put yourself out there instead of hiding away from what you want. I admire that.”

Nasir was speechless.

“So, I have another class soon so I am going to have to kick you out now,” Quintus laughed and Nasir laughed along as they both walked to the door.

“Oh… I met your Aunt on the way over here, Ellen. She told me I should come and see you. I hope I see her again so I can thank her.”

“Oh, yeah? She is a great lady, but don’t get her talking about Jane Austin or you’ll never hear the end of it.” Quintus chuckled and Nasir could see the fondness in the man’s face at the thought of his Aunt.

“I’ll remember that,” Nasir said, biting his lip and thinking that he would love nothing more than to talk about Austin with Ellen for hours. He smiled. “Thanks again. I’ll see you Monday.”

Students were crowding around Nasir now, eager to get in to another interesting lecture with the professor.

“See you Monday, Nasir. Don’t forget to bring me some work.”

“I won’t.”

With one last smile and a casual wave, Nasir made his way back to the reception. Ilithyia was still behind her station and smiled when she saw Nasir approach.

“Did you get everything sorted?” She asked curiously.

“Yeah I did.”

“So will we be seeing you again?”

Nasir beamed at her, his stomach full of butterflies and excitement.

“Yeah, I think you will.”

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

“Hey, what are you doing out here? You know where the key is.”

Nasir spotted Agron as soon as he passed through the trees surrounding his house on the way back from college. He cursed himself for forgetting to leave a note, but Agron hadn’t text so he couldn’t have been there long. As Nasir got closer to his house he admired Agron sitting in the sunlight, how the rays caught on his golden brown hair. He looked calm, but there was something off about the tension in his body, the frown lines that he could see on Agron’s face that made him nervous. It reminded him of when he had kept his intentions with Quin a secret. Nasir hoped that the shit hadn’t returned and was causing trouble again.

“I just needed some air. It’s nice out here, you should get a few chairs or something, you know, garden chairs,” Agron said and lifted his hand above his eyes to shield them from the setting sun.

“Hmm,” Nasir hummed and shrugged. “You okay?”

Standing up, Agron stroked Nasir’s cheek and followed the greeting with a light kiss.

“I’m good yeah, fine. Where have you been?”

The excitement of the day bubbled up and erased the nagging doubt that Agron wasn’t actually ‘fine.’

“Well,” he said with a little smirk, “I went to see if I could get some help with that fucking college application and on the way there was a woman who was so awesome and she told me to see her son, he works at the college as a professor. So I did and I was sort of expecting to be laughed out of the door really, but he was great, he helped me and said if I go back on Monday we can sort something out about me enrolling. Isn’t that awesome?!”

“That’s really great. I’m so proud of you.” Agron hugged Nasir and lifted him a little off the ground. Nasir laughed, but when Agron held on that fraction of a second too long, the worry crept back into his heart.

“Agron, please, what’s wrong?”

After another second, Agron let Nasir slip back to the ground and took a step away. He turned his back and put his hands on his hips.

“Okay, you are freaking me out now. Has something happened? Is it Quin… or Spartacus? You went to see him today, right?” He pulled at Agron’s arm until he had no choice but to turn around again. “You said you wouldn’t keep anything from me again.”

“I’m not,” Agron said quickly, “I-I just… I’m having trouble thinking of how to tell you that’s all.”

Nasir swallowed hard. This was bad. Very, very bad.

“Um, okay.” Nasir blew out a breath and waited. He couldn’t get Agron to speak before he was ready. It he could hurry the fuck up though that would be great because the not knowing was killing him.

“Spartacus has been called back to Iraq, some cock up with his replacement while he’ been on leave. It’s bullshit…”

“And?” Nasir bit his lip, wondering why Agron was having difficulty telling him that. There must be more.

“I have to go back. My leave has been cut short and… I leave on Monday.”

Nasir shook his head.

“But… you have two months left. They can’t just cut it short, can they? That’s not fair.” Nasir closed the gap between them and curled his fingers around Agron’s biceps, like he was afraid he would disappear if he didn’t keep a firm hold on him.

“It’s not fucking fair at all, but I don’t have a choice. Nasir,” Agron paused and pressed his forehead against Nasir’s holding the back of his neck in one large hand, “I don’t have any choice. I’m a soldier and it’s my duty.”

Nasir closed his eyes. He was right of course, but it didn’t make it any easier. He had found the love of his life and now, what? He was just going to leave in two days? It was stupid… to feel like that because he knew Agron wasn’t going to be around forever. Their whole relationship was built on their denial to face the fact that they had fallen in love in borrowed time and this news was just an earlier than expected wake up call.

“I know, but, we’ve only just…” He wanted to say found each other, started their lives together, but the words wouldn’t come out. It was typical. Typical of his fucking life that the reason it was starting to resemble something good was leaving and it was all going to come crashing down again. “How long?”

Agron pulled away from Nasir.

“At least a year, but it could be more. I’ve told Spartacus I want the shortest term possible and he said he would do what he can, but it’s still a year. We knew it was going to be hard, Nasir, we just thought we had more time together before I had to go… I’m so sorry.”

“No, it’s not your fault… we thought we had time and now we don’t. That’s it.” Nasir took a step back. He would make this easy for Agron. Let him go so he could concentrate on his job and not have to think of him.

“Don’t be like that. This is not it, what do you mean that’s it? Nasir, I told you, I love you and you _are_ it for me. If I could stay here with you I would, but this is out of my hands.” The raw despair in Agron’s eyes matched the shake in his voice. “Are you… ending it with me?”

Nasir hesitated for a few seconds. Every fibre he had was screaming at him to pull Agron into his arms and tell him no, never.

“Wouldn’t it be the best thing? You can’t be distracted… thinking about me. If I let you go now you…”

Nasir stopped speaking when Agron took a step towards him. His eyes were wet with unshed tears and he looked so crushed that Nasir inhaled sharply.

“Agron, I don’t want this to hurt you more than it already does.”

“Then don’t cast me aside… I feel like I’m in some shitty romance novel wanting you to wait for me, but I love you and I can’t lose you.”

“I don’t want to end this… but you have bigger things to worry about. We have to be realistic.”

Agron shook his head and cupped Nasir’s cheek. He loved that Nasir was trying to save him from even more heartache, loved that he was trying to hide how hurt he was… Gods he loved him so much.

“Do you love me?” Agron said pressing his forehead to Nasir’s and feeling him take a sharp breath.

“You know I do… you know I love you.”

“Then we can figure this out, okay. I’ll be back before you know it.” He smiled, the sadness in his comforting words betraying him. Agron was finding this as difficult as Nasir. “You will be so busy being brilliant and doing well at school and meeting new people… you won’t even miss me.”

It was too much. Nasir touched Agron’s face, a graze of trembling fingertips, before tugging him down for a kiss, a hard crash of lips and teeth and tongues. He gripped what he could of Agron’s hair and held on tight.

Nasir felt himself being pushed towards the side of the house, his back finally meeting its target with a thump that pushed the breath out of his lungs. Agron only released his mouth long enough for him to suck in a shuddering breath before Nasir’s mouth was being plundered again. Agron bit his lip, drew that sweet tongue into his mouth making Nasir moan at the sensation. He pushed his thigh in between Nasir’s legs and circled his hips against Nasir’s squirming body.

It was a desperate. They wanted to mark each other. Pain and aching want the only things in their world that existed.

Agron’s hands were everywhere all at once and Nasir couldn’t think. Agron managed to get his hands under Nasir’s t-shirt to trace the grooves of his ribs with his fingertips. His detailed mapping of Nasir’s body continued to his nipples, already hard and sensitive from arousal. Agron twisted the right nipple, releasing Nasir’s mouth again to nuzzle his face over the peaked flesh. He scraped his teeth over the nipple and did the same to the other while Nasir threw his head back and hissed.

Pressing forward, Agron thrust and moaned when the hard line of his cock lined up with Nasir’s. The intense spark of friction against his groin made Nasir buck his hips forward, grinding down frantically on Agron’s leg. They were both panting and clawing at each other and Nasir didn’t even realise he was begging Agron for “more” and “yes, there” and “fuck, me” until Agron was laughing lightly in his ear.

“It’s a good job you don’t have neighbours, little man,” he said, nibbling on Nasir’s earlobe.

“I wouldn’t care if I did,” Nasir replied and dug his fingers into Agron’s ass, pulling at the denim of his jeans and grunting in frustration at the resistance. “Please…”

The bittersweet word couldn’t be ignored. Whatever Nasir wanted from him he would give willingly.

He felt Nasir’s hand snaking down between their bodies, fingers dipping below the waist of his jeans and rubbing in slow and long strokes over his throbbing cock, pulling hard at the head, making Agron shake.

Agron bit his own lip and tasted blood.

It wasn’t long until Nasir had unzipped their jeans and pulled them both free, gripping their dicks in his hand and pumping slowly to the rhythmic grinding of their bodies.

“Faster, please… Nasir,” Agron shuddered.

Suddenly, Nasir was gone and Agron opened his eyes. He couldn’t even remember closing them. Nasir smiled and grabbed the fabric of Agron’s t-shirt, switching their positions so that Agron was backed up against the wall instead.

“Wha?” He mumbled, before he saw Nasir dropping to his knees, taking him into his mouth almost completely and pulling his lips up along the shaft, his tongue dragging over the vein on the underside. He licked, teasing kitten licks  to the slit and then went back to swallow as much of Agron as he could.

Agron moaned loudly and his head slammed against the house, the delicious pleasure/pain of it building up the speed of his orgasm racing to be released. He was aware that he was the one begging now and although he didn’t want it to end he wasn’t going to last much longer. He looked down to see Nasir’s hand on his own cock, jerking in time to his mouth rising and falling on Agron and that was all Agron could take. He tugged on Nasir’s hair, the only warning he could manage, but Nasir stayed where he was, sucking just the head of Agron’s cock and swirling his tongue around the ridge. Agron came with a loud cry, his stomach muscles spasming and Nasir held every drop in his mouth, swallowing around Agron’s cock and licking him clean.

His legs gave and Agron felt himself slide down the side of the house, collapsing in the dirt next to Nasir. He took Nasir’s hand, his own release clinging to his fingers and drew them into his mouth. Nasir watched as Agron cleaned him up, his heart thumping almost painfully in his chest. When he was done, Agron pulled Nasir in close, tucked him under his arm and put his chin on the top of his head.

“I’m sorry, beautiful,” he said, kissing Nasir’s hair and sighing.

“Don’t be… really, I… it was just a shock, you know? I knew you had to leave, but not so soon. A year…” Nasir snuggled into Agron’s t-shirt and breathed in his scent. He had to memorise everything. He should have been doing that since they met. “We can write to each other and they have video phones out there right? A year isn’t so long.”

“No, no it’s not,” Agron said. They would be lucky if it was only one year, but he couldn’t admit that out loud. He had to hope that it would be all he got and he could come home to Nasir in twelve short months.

“It’s gonna be weird without you here. I’ve sort of gotten used to you.”

“You have, huh?” Agron smiled into Nasir’s hair. “I’m sort of used to you too, little man.”

They sat together, rocks digging into their legs and shivering in the cool air until the sun set. There wasn’t anything else to say and neither of them had the energy to even try.

Two days and Agron would be gone. Nasir would start his new life and the long wait for the man he loved to come home to him.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

Agron woke the next morning in Nasir’s bed. It was early. Too early to be awake, but even half asleep he could sense that Nasir wasn’t sleeping next to him.

He turned over to find Nasir sitting up in bed, back bent forward, and scribbling furiously in a note pad. Agron ran his hand down the smooth curve of Nasir’s back and yawned.

“What you writing?” He asked, sitting up himself and eyeing the crumpled balls of discarded paper strewn around the covers. He unfolded one; a to-do list ranging from getting a job to having a haircut. Agron scrunched up his nose at that one and hoped that Nasir just meant getting a trim. Another paper was opened containing one word.

Agron.

The sight of his name in dark black ink made the sadness from the night before creep back up on him. Agron let his eyes linger on the rounded apple of Nasir’s cheek peeking out from under his beautiful hair. His long eyelashes fanned out each time he blinked and Agron had to look away.

“Professor Batiatus said I had to bring him something I’d written, but I’ve looked through everything and it’s all shit.” He scribbled a few more words on the paper before sighing and throwing the pad to the end of the bed in frustration.

“You been up all night doing this?”

After their emotional meeting the day before they had collapsed into bed and Agron had fallen asleep almost immediately. Nasir must have had more trouble in that regard and judging from the dark circles under his eyes it wasn’t hard to imagine that he hasn’t slept at all.

“It has to be good. I have to impress him so that I can enrol without any other qualifications. If I fuck this up there won’t be any college.”

“Come here,” Agron said soothingly and laid a hand on Nasir’s arm. “Look at me.”

Nasir turned his head, keeping his body facing forward, a frown set firmly on his brow.

“Don’t think about us, okay? Just think about what you want to write about and it’ll come to you.” Agron kissed Nasir’s bare shoulder, savouring the warm feeling under his lips. “You’ve been doing this kind of thing since Oenomaus taught you to read and write. Why don’t you do a book review, you must have tons, you write one after every book you read?”

Nasir sighed and propped his cheek on Agron’s hand that had replaced Agron’s lips on his shoulder. How the hell was he supposed to think only of his work? It was impossible not to think of what was going to happen in two stupidly short days.

“I can’t get my head round it like I usually can.”

Agron frowned, knowing he was the cause of his distraction. There was nothing more important to him than Nasir being successful and getting into college. From what he had been told, Nasir had made a good impression on the professor he had met, and the paper he had to write was more of an indication of how advanced Nasir was in his studies, but it seemed so much more… more important than that to him.

“I’m going to take a shower. You should relax for a bit, you know? Being stressed will just make it harder to write what you want.”

He kissed Nasir’s cheek and shuffled out of bed, peeling his boxers off and stepping around the screen and turning his back away from deep, dark eyes.

Agron closed his eyes, sweeping his hands over his now slick skin, the water hot enough to make him tingle and turn his body pink. He opened one eye, pumped some shower gel into his hand and then tilted his head back. The darkness helped calm his mind and his racing heart. The smell of Nasir wafted up and filled his senses, which were already overstimulated with longing and loss. Every part of him was itching. He didn’t want to ever leave Nasir, but being here now… it was killing him. Being around everything he was being torn from, everything he was going to lose.

He rolled his neck, loosening the taught muscles bunching painfully in his back, and worked the gel into a lather.

Being a soldier was all he had ever wanted, ever dreamed of being. He hadn’t felt empty until he had fallen in love with a wild little dog who ran with a gang. The emptiness inside when he realised that it was a family he wanted, not a life in the army was a sharp feeling he couldn’t shake. Nasir and a home, maybe even kids someday if that was what they both desired were all he could think about now. Nasir had consumed him. They had both changed because of each other.

Agron jumped when Nasir snaked an arm around his waist. He kept his eyes shut tight and absorbed the warmth of Nasir’s body behind his, the soft, feathery kisses pressed between his shoulder blades and the fingers now stroking his abdomen.

Nasir held on to Agron and let the water cover him. He had stripped his joggers off when he had stepped out of bed and for a while had just stood there and watched, just looked at the lines of muscle and golden skin that was everything that he loved. He could feel how much Agron was hurting and when he stepped into the shower, he hoped that his touch would say what he couldn’t with words.

They stood in silence until the water started to cool. Nasir wanted time to stop, but the sun rising and throwing out rays of sunshine into the room forced him to see that the world would never stop turning for them.

“I think you’re right about the book reviews. I have some that I wrote not too long ago that I could put together into a sequence and with a bit of editing, they might be what the Prof is looking for,” Nasir said finally, resting his head on Agron’s back.

“I can help. Well, I could read it and tell you what I think. I might not be very useful or anything, but I know sometimes you need a fresh pair of eyes to see what’s right in front of you.”

Nasir frowned, not really sure what Agron was actually talking about.

Before he could think about it though, Agron had turned in his arms and was looking down at him with a smile. It was small, heart-breaking… but it was real.

“I’m still a bit tired. You want to go back to bed for a while, try and sleep a bit more?”

Nasir nodded and kissed Agron’s cheek.

Agron wanted Nasir to get some sleep and would pretend to be tired himself just to get Nasir to agree.

“Do I get to dry you off first?” Nasir said, gripping Agron’s hip and drawing him out into the bedroom and turning to shut off the water.

“I was hoping you would say that, little man,” Agron replied, taking hold of Nasir’s wrist and pulling him roughly into his arms, startling a shocked laugh from his lover.

“Thanks,” Nasir said suddenly, not knowing if he would have another opportunity to say something like that, but Agron needed to hear it. He always managed to do or say the right things to make him stop doubting himself. “Who is going to be the sensible one in my life when you’re gone?”

Agron smiled as Nasir traced his dimples with his fingertips.

“You are, beautiful. You are,”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because Nero's art inspires me so much. I was really stuck on this fic but now here is a new chapter! Gratitude my darling! <3

Nasir sat on his bed and stared at the uniform on the back of his bedroom door. Agron said it would be easier on Nasir if he went to Spartacus’ to get ready to leave the next morning, but Nasir had refused.

Nothing was going to be easy, so the day before, Nasir had gone with Agron to collect all his things so they could take them back to Nasir’s. To their home.

Spartacus had voiced his regret that Agron was leaving because of him.

“If there was anything I could do…” Spartacus had said while Agron was upstairs packing.

“I know you would change things if you could.” Nasir smiled at the man. He wished he had gotten the chance to know him better.

“I don’t need to ask that you take care of him… I just want to hear the words for something… to hold on to.”

Spartacus crossed the room and gripped Nasir’s shoulder.

“He is my brother. If I look out for him with half as much fury as he does for me then you should find comfort in that. I have never felt safer than when he is at my side.”

Nasir swallowed hard and nodded. There was nothing else to say.

“Nasir?”

Agron’s voice broke through Nasir’s memory. He must have let his eyes drift to the floor because when he looked up Agron was standing in the doorway.

“Where did you go?” Agron moved into the room and sat down on the bed, taking Nasir’s hand, and threading their fingers together.

“Just… thinking,” Nasir sighed heavy. His words were like a lead weight in his mouth.

“Let’s not think today, huh? Let’s go out and pretend for a few hours.”

Nasir looked up and met Agron’s eyes. The pain in them was incredible, but he could see that he was trying to be strong, to keep the few hours that they had left together from being filled with grief.

“You’re right. Where did you want to go?”

Agron smirked and stood up, pulling Nasir off the bed and then surprising the little man by hoisting him over his shoulder.

“Where have our favourite dates been?” Agron asked through bursts of laughter. Nasir was kicking out and wriggling, curses turning the air blue.

“Put me down you ass!” Nasir yelled, but couldn’t help the smile that hurt his cheeks. “I’ll bite you if you don’t!”

Agron patted Nasir’s bum so Nasir bit his neck.

“Ow,” Agron growled and dropped Nasir carefully on the floor.

“I did warn you. I think you owe me breakfast now, don’t you?”

“Yeah I do. I won’t pretend to have no money this time either.”

Nasir rolled his eyes and grabbed his jacket, following Agron out the front door. The sun was peeking through some fat, white clouds and the day promised to be a good one.

All they both had to do was ignore the somber pain in their hearts and they might just make it through it.

***

“And we’ll both have a Full English too,” Nasir said to the confused looking waitress.

“Pancakes, fruit salads, coffee, milkshakes AND the Full English?” She raised a curious eyebrow and tapped her pencil on the order pad in her hand.

Agron just looked at her and shrugged. Nasir was taking full advantage of his victory breakfast and Agron was powerless to deny him.

“Okaaaay,” she said, not caring to question they two men grinning like maniacs in a booth. “Anything else?”

“Ooh, whipped cream on the milkshakes, please Ruby.” Nasir had looked at her name badge when she had come to their table. He liked to know people’s names.

Ruby smiled at Nasir and Agron bit the inside of his cheek to stop the smirk that was fighting to appear on his lips. She retreated to the kitchen and Agron leaned across the table.

“You are so clueless, man. She has a huge crush on you.”

Nasir tutted and swiped at Agron’s hands that were trying to tickle and embarrass him from across the table.

“Stop being a brat. I’m not blind and I’ve seen that she…”

“Devours you with her eyes?” Agron kissed the air and laughed.

“She’s a sweet girl.” Nasir sat back and ran his fingers through his hair. “And you shouldn’t tease.”

“Oh, I’m not teasing. I know the feeling. You had me the second we met so I sympathise with her. I remember how I felt when you looked up at me after I nearly knocked you to the floor.”

“That you should have been watching where you were walking?” Nasir moved his foot so it was resting against Agron’s ankle.

“No, smart arse. I remember thinking that you were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. That you couldn’t be real.”

Nasir rolled her eyes. It was such a short time ago, but it felt like Agron was talking about another person. He had been lost, angry… a lonely child when he had met Agron. He hadn’t realised how much that meeting had changed him until recently, but he felt like he knew who he was now.

“Roll your eyes all you want, little man. You floored me that night.”

Agron’s words were sincere and heartfelt. There were endless things that he wanted to say to him, but he had suggested that they pretend for the day and he wanted Nasir to enjoy their day.

“Foods coming,” Agron said before Nasir had chance to respond. He could have sworn that his dark brown eyes looked watery.

“Here you are,” Ruby sighed as she placed their meals on the table. “I’m going to have to make another two trips back to the kitchen for the rest. You boys celebrating something?”

Nasir opened his mouth to speak, but Agron knew he was going to say that they weren’t celebrating.

“Erm, yes we are. This one just got into college.” Agron pointed at Nasir and looked so proud that Nasir feared that he was going to burst.

“It’s not for definite yet,” Nasir shook his head and smiled shyly at Ruby.

“Rubbish, the professor loved you and you are definitely in. He’s going to kick everyone’s ass at school.” Agron aimed the last sentence at Ruby and she nodded. “He’s going to be a teacher.”

“Dude…” Nasir groaned.

“No, no, let me brag.”

Nasir rolled his eyes again and started cutting up the bacon on his Full English.

“She’s working. She doesn’t want to hear your ramblings,” Nasir said with his mouth full, waving his knife in the air.

“Sorry,” Agron said.

Ruby chuckled as she headed back into the kitchen.

“I’m just proud of you is all,” he continued, making a start on his own breakfast.

“I know. I just don’t want to expect something only to be disappointed if it doesn’t happen. I can’t let myself believe its true until I know for sure that it is.”

“Hmm,” Agron said around a mouthful of toast, “I get it, but I don’t see any need for me to be cautious. I know you’re going to get in so I can brag.”

“What if you jinx it?” Nasir smirked.

“Don’t be an idiot.” Agron stabbed a grilled tomato with his fork and his eyes widened.

“What?” Nasir frowned and turned to see two of the biggest stacks of pancakes he had ever seen being carried to them.

“You still don’t think you went a bit overboard with the order?”

Trying desperately not to look afraid of the huge amount of food in front of them, Nasir shook his head.

“Nah, this is nothing. I went easy on you.”

He cut into the pancakes and looked at Agron through lowered eyelashes.

“Yeah, yeah, talk to me again after you’ve stopped throwing up behind the cafe with me holding your hair back.”

Nasir just grinned and shoved the fluffy wedge of pancakes into his mouth, chewing happily.

***

“Where you want to go now?”

Agron had to crane his neck to look at Nasir’s face. The kid had eaten so much, to spite Agron he just knew, that he had started to look a bit green towards the end. He was now being piggybacked down the street, his head resting on the top of Agron’s shoulder.

“Take me somewhere and throw me in a ditch. I hurt all over.”

Nasir groaned and buried his face in Agron’s T-shirt.

“I’m not going to say I told you so cause that would be cruel. I’m also not going to say that you ate more than the worlds fattest man could eat cause that would be mean. I’m not going to say…”

“For someone with who’s not saying anything could you shut the fuck up? My tummy hurts!”

“You want to go home?” Agron slowed down, ignoring the judgemental and confused looks from passers by. It was like they had never seen a man carrying his boyfriend on his back down the street before.

“No, not home.” Nasir lifted his head and patted Agron’s chest to let him down. He stepped to Agron’s side and took his hand. “I don’t want to go home… not yet.”

Agron nodded and squeezed Nasir’s fingers. If they went home it would be too soon, too real.

“Can we go to the river. I don’t want to rope swing this time,” Nasir smiled remembering how Agron had acted like a giant child and then how he had nearly kissed him before running off.

“You don’t want to see my mighty flying eagle? I’m disgusted.”

“I’m not stopping you from doing it. I just want to lie on the grass and slip into a food coma.”

Agron leaned in and kissed Nasir’s cheek.

“I love you.”

“I know,” Nasir replied quietly.

***

Agron flopped down on the grass next to Nasir, shaking his soaking hair and spraying droplets of water over Nasir’s bare neck, chest, and even his face. Nasir didn’t think his smile could be any wider or any less smug.

“Ahhh, the water is great. If you weren’t moulded to the ground you should try it.”

A non committed hum was Nasir’s only response. The sun felt too good on his skin to even consider moving. He let his eyes fall closed as Agron began to touch him with light caresses of his fingertips.

He shuffled closer to Nasir and stroked the elegant stretch of his neck, his index finger dipping into the hollow at the bottom. He felt Nasir swallow and heard the contented sigh that followed it.

Next for Agron’s attentions was the soft skin of Nasir’s arm, the fine hairs shifting like silk under his gentle touch. He moved his hand up and down, exploring the different responses he could draw from him. Nasir’s fingers would flex when Agron tickled the sensitive skin on the inside of his elbow and his breath shuddered when Agron kissed the top of his arm, lingering there and dragging his lips over sun heated flesh.

Agron turned on his side and lay down fully, his head tucked by Nasir’s, his chin on his shoulder and his hand spread flat on Nasir’s belly.

They lay for a while. Quiet and thoughtless. Just being.

“I think we should get married when I get back. We could get married, get a house… one where the shower isn’t in our bedroom. You’d be a teacher and I’d be, well whatever, and we could get a dog or whatever you like, a budgie or something. What do you think?”

Agron opened his eyes to find Nasir staring at him.

“About getting a budgie or the fact that you just asked me to marry you?” Nasir was a bit breathless, but there was no denying the shock in his voice.

“You can answer both if you like?” Agron leaned up on his elbow and brushed a stray strand of hair out of Nasir’s eyes.

“Are you serious?”

“Um, yes… I love you. I’ve never had a budgie before, but we could get a book about what they need…”

“Shut up about the budgie.” Nasir sat up fully and grabbed Agron’s hand.

“Sorry, sorry,” Agron said and sat up, sitting cross legged and smiling. “If I were to ask you the same question when I get home, what would you say?”

Nasir’s heart flipped. He’d never dared to dream that anyone would ever love him enough to ask him that.

“I wish you weren’t going. I hate this,” Nasir said, his eyes screwing up and a stray tear falling onto his cheek.

“What would you say, Nasir? Tell me.”

“I’d say yes.”

Agron caught Nasir’s face between his hands and kissed him. He kissed him for all the days, hours, minutes, seconds that he was going to be longing for him. He kissed him for forgiveness and to balm his wounded heart. But mostly, he kissed him as a promise. That he wouldn’t be going back overseas alone.

Nasir would be in his heart as he would be in Nasir’s.

 


	15. Chapter 15

“You know what I remember about the night we met?”

Nasir shifted in Agron’s arms. They were lying together in Nasir’s bed, Agron on his back with Nasir tucked by his side. Their last night together wasn’t about sex, just about being close, holding each other and saying their goodbyes. They had done well all day not to think about what was going to happen the next day and they had enjoyed themselves, been just like any other couple in love, but in the darkness they couldn’t ignore it anymore.

“Tell me.” Agron tightened his arm around Nasir’s shoulders.

“I felt kind of ashamed,” Nasir said quietly, his breath ghosting over Agron’s neck.

“Ashamed of what?”

Nasir didn’t speak for a moment. He thought back to that night and seeing the giant of a man looking so powerful in his army uniform. It was a shock to Nasir that the stranger he had collided with had done something so important with his life when Nasir had achieved nothing with his own.

“Of myself, my fucked up life and that I hadn’t even tried to escape it.”

“Nasir…” Agron carded his fingers through Nasir’s hair, holding him close.

“No, don’t say anything to make me feel better. I know you never saw me like that… like a fuck up, but I was. You never judged me though, never pitied me like I kind of pitied myself. I never even tried to leave because I was scared and I wish I’d done it years ago.”

“But you were thinking about it, even before we met, you were doing it yourself, changing and making something of your life. I didn’t do that. You did. Maybe you didn’t have the greatest start, but look at the type of person you are. You could have turned out like Quin.”

Nasir smiled against Agron’s chest. It seemed that it was impossible for Agron to think badly of him even when he asked him to.

“I wouldn’t have left them if you hadn’t given me the strength,” Nasir sighed. He was sleepy and it was way past one in the morning, but he didn’t want to sleep, not on their last night together. “I was safe with them, but it was suffocating. Enough that I didn’t think I would know who I was if I wasn’t in the gang.”

“You would have left,” Agron said with confidence in his voice. If there was one thing he knew for sure was that Nasir was brave. He would have broken out of The Wild Dogs eventually. “You said it yourself, you were thinking about going to school and I bet you were thinking about telling Oenomaus. If I know the man he would have encouraged you and…”

Nasir chuckled softly and moved so that he was on top of Agron. He covered his mouth with his own, kissing him deeply. Agron sighed through his nose and pulled Nasir further onto his body, his arms wrapped tight around his back.

“Would you shut up and learn to take a compliment. All I’m saying is… thank you. You made a difference to me.”

Agron kissed Nasir’s cheek and smiled against the smooth skin under his lips.

“Sorry, I just don’t want you to think…”

Nasir frowned and tilted his head to look at Agron’s face, still visible in the moonlight.

“Think what?”

“I don’t want you to think that you can’t do it without me here. Going to school and having a life. I know you can do it yourself, but I want _you_ to know that you can.”

Nasir put his head back down under Agron’s chin so that he could hear the steady beat of his heart. It was hard to imagine that at the same time the next night he would be lying in bed alone.

“I don’t want to do it without you. It’s not that I can’t… I just don’t want to. Can’t I just hide you somewhere and maybe they’ll forget about you. Stay here with me?”

Agron smiled sadly. He wanted nothing more than to do just that, to keep his little man in his arms forever.

“I think I would be pretty damn easy to find here, beautiful. It’s like living in a dolls house.”

“Insulting where I live now?”

“You’ve seen me in that shower. I feel like a giant.”

“You are a giant,” Nasir laughed. “Agron the hot, friendly giant.”

“I’m gonna need a t-shirt with that on it.”

Agron took a deep breath, Nasir rising up at the same time as Agron’s chest.

“We’re going to be okay, aren’t we?” Agron said and tucked his hand under Nasir’s t-shirt. “I’ve never done a long distance thing before.”

“We’ll be fine. We can skype or call whenever we can and… how do feel about writing to me. The woman I told you about, Ellen, she said that letters have meaning and maybe we could do that. I mean, you don’t have to, but it might be nice. I know I won’t be able to say everything I want to say to you over the phone so…” Nasir paused. He really hoped Agron wanted to do this. the more he had thought about it the more he had come to realise that he wanted something real, something tangible that he could touch and smell and see. Agron would be so far away but it would be as though a little piece of him would be in his hands.

“It’s a great idea.”

Agron kissed the top of Nasir’s head, inhaling the scent and feeling the soft glide of the dark locks under his lips. He would never tell Nasir, but his greatest fear about leaving was that Nasir would meet somebody else. He knew he would never cheat on him; it had never crossed his mind because Nasir wasn’t that kind of person, but he knew that it was impossible for Nasir not to attract other people. He was beautiful, smart, and funny and it was ridiculous to think that Nasir wouldn’t meet anyone else he was attracted to. Agron wasn’t stupid.

“I’m not much of a writer,” he continued.

“I’m not asking for poems or anything,” Nasir said, slightly panicked that he had asked too much from Agron.

“No, no, I’m not… I want to do it. You might be disappointed in them, that’s all.”

Nasir’s arms tightened around Agron’s waist.

“You couldn’t disappoint me if you tried. I’d just like to know what you’re doing or you know, just anything. You’re constantly telling me random stuff and I’ll miss it so… just write whatever.”

“Random stuff?” Agron huffed. “Don’t you mean thrilling facts and interesting, deep conversation?”

Nasir turned his head and blew a raspberry on Agron’s chest, making the man squirm and laugh, wriggling Nasir so much that he fell from on top of Agron and was now tucked into his side again. Nasir loved being in that position though. It was almost as if Agron had been made for Nasir to fit in his arms.

Outside, an owl hooted in the trees. Agron yawned and kissed Nasir’s head. He wanted to stay awake too, but their last day together had exhausted him and he had to leave early in the morning. The dark outline of his uniform was glaring at him from the back of Nasir’s door and he closed his eyes.

“What time are you meeting your professor tomorrow?”

Nasir sighed. “Ten, he has a class in the morning but some free time after so he can see me then. It’s weird that it’s actually happening though.”

“Weird, but good?” Agron said, yawning again. His body was relaxing and dragging his mind into that state of calm before you drift off to sleep.

“Yeah, it’s really good.”

“You’re going to have such a great time at school. You’re a bit of a geek, you know? All that reading you will have to do, you’ll love it, and I bet you’re excited about homework and tests.” Agron laughed through his nose when Nasir half-heartedly poked him in the ribs with his finger.

Nasir laughed with him, soothing the area of attack with light caresses that had Agron trembling under his touch. Nasir knew the best ways to drive Agron to the edge of insanity and then pull him back again. Even when they were play fighting, Nasir had control of Agron. It was just how things were between them.

“Are you looking forward to going back? That was stupid… sorry.” Nasir shifted, feeling guilty about talking about something so serious as though it was anything like him going to school. He didn’t know anything about what Agron had been through, what he had seen, and Agron didn’t really like talking about it.

“It’s not stupid. I love the army, it’s just things are different now. I didn’t have anything here before that meant anything and now I do. I’ve got everything I need. I’ve got you.”

Lying quietly, they both thought about how their lives had changed for the better since they met.

“Do you want to get some sleep? Your flights in a couple of hours,” Nasir said after what seemed like an hour of silence, when it had only been minutes.

“Not really… but we should. I don’t want you falling asleep at your desk tomorrow.”

“Hmm,” Nasir responded quietly, his hand tracing invisible patterns on Agron’s bicep. “I’m not sleepy.”

“No, you don’t sound it,” Agron chuckled. His flight was at seven and he would have to be at Spartacus’ for half five. His alarm was set, but he wouldn’t be surprised if he only managed a few hours’ sleep anyway. He was anxious, he had been the first time he had been dispatched overseas, but the loss of Nasir was making leaving all the more difficult.

“Nasir?” Agron could hear the soft sound of Nasir breathing and knew that he couldn’t hear him. He was glad that Nasir wouldn’t be totally wrecked for his big day at college.

A stray tear fell from Agron’s eye and landed with a dull pat on the pillow.

***

Agron’s alarm had been switched off an hour before it was set to go off. He had been awake, as he predicted since about half past three and made sure the alarm wouldn’t sound and wake up Nasir.

Nasir had stirred a few times since Agron had woken up, speaking unknowable words in a dream, but he had been still for a while when Agron finally moved to get out of bed.

He had dressed while Nasir was still sleeping, taking the opportunity to memorise his love for the last time. Peaceful, content and so beautiful, and Agron felt like the luckiest man in the world. His black hair was wildly spread out on the pillow and curled around his ear, right in the place where he liked to be kissed. Agron knew all the places that made Nasir weak, the places that made him tremble. He knew that however long they spent apart, his heart would never beat for another, and he promised silently to himself that when he got home, home to Nasir, that he would spend the rest of his life trying to make his little man happy and taking care of him. He had found his purpose in life.

When he had mentioned marrying Nasir, it wasn’t the serious proposal that Nasir deserved, but Agron planned to make that right when he got back. Nothing would stop him from being with Nasir. Not war, not thousands of miles… nothing.

He stood by the bed and drank in the sight of Nasir still sleeping soundly. Tears prickled his eyes and he rubbed at them with the back of his hand.

“Hey, beautiful,” he whispered, kneeling to get closer to Nasir’s face. Big brown eyes, framed by insanely long eyelashes looked up at him.

“No…” Nasir screwed his eyes closed again.

“I know, but I have to go. Give me a kiss, huh?” Agron stroked Nasir’s sleep warmed cheek and covered his lips with his own. Nasir made a sound like a half sob and pressed his forehead against Agron’s. “Don’t be sad. It’ll be fine… we’ll be fine.”

Nasir nodded and let out a long shuddering breath. He pulled his arm out from under the duvet and curled it around Agron’s neck. The crisp material under his skin made him shudder.

“You’ll write to me?” Nasir asked, his lips brushing the clean shaved skin of Agron’s jaw.

“I’ll write and call whenever I can.”

Nasir took a deep breath and pulled away. He had to be strong now.

“I love you so much,” he said, leaning into Agron’s touch when his hand settled in its familiar place on his cheek.

“I love you too,” Agron said, his voice cracking on the last word.

“Be careful… I want you back in one piece.” Nasir tried to smile, but his lips were shaking so much it didn’t have the desired effect.

Agron frowned at the obvious pain this was causing Nasir. He pulled him into another hug and Nasir moved his body so that he was sitting up and could get more access to Agron. They held each other tightly, each struggling to hold back the tears.

“I will, I promise… I-I have to go.”

They parted and Agron got to his feet. He towered above Nasir, just like he had on the night that they met. They looked at each other, their eyes saying more than their words ever could. Agron smiled and nodded gently. He couldn’t say goodbye and neither could Nasir.

Agron turned his back and picked up his bag. He looked so different in his uniform, harder somehow, and Nasir didn’t recognise him. Pausing in the doorway, Agron tilted his head and Nasir thought for a moment that he was going to speak, but instead he just watched Agron’s shoulders tense and his back straighten. He was forcing himself to leave Nasir’s side.

The tears that Nasir had been holding back spilled onto his cheeks the moment the door clicked, marking the empty space in his home where Agron once stood.

Nasir’s body bent forward, his head half buried in his arms and half in the tangled mass of blankets on the bed. He let go of all the fear he felt, the loss and regret and allowed it to flee his body finally. His sobs were loud and unashamed and he didn’t hold back his overwhelmed emotions like he would have done only a few weeks ago.

When he had exhausted himself he crawled back under the covers and pulled them over his head. Agron had left a t-shirt under his pillow and when Nasir felt the fabric with his fingertips, he drew it out and held it to his chest, the soft cotton as familiar to him as his own name.

His eyes closed and he drifted back into the state of half sleep, dreaming of green eyes and coffee, cool water and sunshine, dimples and laughter.

 

 

 

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this is the last chapter and I really can't believe how freaking long I have taken writing it. Thanks for everyones patience and support, this was my first ever fanfic and the response to it has been amazing. I've loved writing it and that's why although this is the end of this part of the story it isn't the end of the fic.
> 
> Special mention and gratitude to Nero for the prompt and always being sweet to me and drawing the most beautiful art!

Nasir woke up to the sound of his phone vibrating in his ear. His hand reached out blindly, trying to shut the damn thing off so he could get some more sleep.

“Shit,” he grumbled, remembering that it was the day of his meeting with Quintus. He cracked open one eye but couldn’t see much through the curtain of hair covering his face. He tossed his hair back and switched off the alarm.

Dragging himself out of bed he folded Agron’s t-shirt and put it under his pillow and then stripped off his own clothes. A shower was just what he needed, a fresh start and a new day.  
Nasir let the warm water run over him, steam billowing, his head tilting back at the sensation. He was feeling more like himself and yet he was new, like the Nasir he had been was washing away with the frothy soap suds and exposing another version of Nasir underneath.

Once he was done, he shut off the water and walked to his wardrobe. He did have a few nice clothes, not just the battered, scruffy stuff he usually wore. Reaching for a black shirt hanging right at the back he laughed to himself. It was the shirt he had bought for a funeral years ago.

“It’ll do,” he said as he threw it on the bed.

Agron would have loved that he was thinking of buying new clothes, although Nasir doubted if Agron would have behaved long enough for him to find anything. Changing rooms and a half naked boyfriend would have definitely been too tempting.

Next he rummaged around for some jeans that didn’t have holes in them. It was a bit of a long shot, but eventually he found some charcoal grey ones that looked decent enough.

After ironing, or attempting to at least, he tied his hair back up of his face in a smooth tight bun. He glanced in the mirror and stared at his reflection. He looked older, different, and it was a good feeling. Nasir smiled softly and went to make some breakfast.

***

“Hello,” Nasir answered his phone, not bothering to look at the caller ID. He had a mouth full of toast and was stuffing his bag with a few more books he thought he might need.

“Nasir, hey, it’s me.”

“Agron!” Nasir beamed. He hadn’t expected to hear from him quite so soon. “I thought you’d be on the plane by now?” His heart was beating wildly just from the sound of Agron’s voice.

“There was a delay, we’re going to be boarding soon, so I thought I’d call you before you left. I’m not gonna make you late am I?”

Nasir smiled and grabbed his bag.

“I’m just setting off, but I’m walking so I can talk. I’m glad you called.”

He left the house and headed towards the bus stop.

“So, I found your present. You trying to give me inspiration?”

Nasir smiled. He had hidden Pride and Prejudice in Agron’s backpack when they had got back the day before. It was something he wanted Agron to have because it meant a lot to him, but also because he wanted Agron to take a little bit of home away with him.

“Did you like it?” Nasir bit his lip.

“Yeah, I love it. You not going to miss having it?”

“It’s in good hands. I’ll get it back soon.”

Nasir smiled and knew that Agron was doing the same.

“You doing alright?” Agron sounded hesitant.

_No, no, I’m not alright. Come home to me._

“I’m good, it’s… it’s hard, but I’ve got to get on with it. I’m…” he shook his head, wishing he could just see Agron’s face, touch him. “How are you doing?”

The conversation was getting awkward, neither of them wanting to make the situation even more depressing than it already was.

“I’m good,” Agron said quietly, both of them knowing that it was a lie.

“You know, I thought last night… I don’t even have a photo of you. We should have gone to one of those booths in town, done one of those photo strips like they always do in the movies.” He sighed.

“Fuck, yeah we should have done that. I-I could get someone to take my picture and I could send it to you. Do you want me to?”

Nasir stopped walking and blinked a few times. He couldn’t lose it twice in one fucking morning.

“Beautiful?” Agron’s concerned voice snapped Nasir back to reality.

“I want a picture of you, yeah. I can get one done for you too,” he said, starting to walk again.

“A sexy one?” Agron lowered his voice like he was trying to be discreet amongst other people.

Rolling his eyes, Nasir tutted down the phone.

“Maybe,” he said, lowering his own voice even though he was alone.

“Fuck the gods, I was just kidding, but now you’ve agreed… send it in your first letter okay, start writing when you get home today… no, get a disposable camera first…”

Nasir laughed down the phone, silencing Agron’s excited rant.

“Shut up you idiot, I didn’t agree I just said maybe, and the photo I’ll be sending first will be just of my face… trying not to look awkward.”

Agron was quiet on the other end and for a minute Nasir thought the call had cut off.

“I love you so much. You know that, right? I always shall.” Agron was serious now, the strain of leaving Nasir as clear as anything in his strangled words.

Nasir clenched his jaw and bit back the urge to let go again. He would not send Agron off to Iraq with him sobbing down the phone.

“I love you too. Always.”

Nasir listened to Agron breathing for a few moments before he inhaled deeply.

“You left something of yours at mine…” Nasir said, relieved that his voice didn’t shake as much as his whole body was.

“I did? Huh, I dunno what you mean.”

“Oh really,” Nasir smirked, “hmm, well the thing that you left that you don’t know anything about… well, it was nice. It helps.”

Nasir thought about finding Agron’s t-shirt and smiled sadly, wondering how long it would keep the scent of Agron in its fibres.

“Good, I knew you’d find it under your pillow cause you sleep with your hands stuffed under there. I-I just wanted you to know I’m there with you still.”

A muffled voice echoed in the background and Agron swore quietly.

“Fuck, that’s for me. Listen… Nasir, I-I’m so happy, just remember that it’s because of you and I’m coming home to you. The time will go so fast, you’ll see.” Agron sucked in a breath and Nasir could almost see the tears on his beautiful face. “Good luck today… and… fuck, I have to go.”

“Okay… I’ll see you then,” Nasir managed to speak even though his mouth was dry and he could barely breathe.

“Okay… See you.”

The call cut off and Nasir lowered his phone which he been clutching so hard he was surprised he hadn’t smashed the damn thing.

It was nice to have heard Agron’s voice again, but now he was feeling shaken and alone and his confidence in himself was dwindling. He was itching to turn around and go back home, forget about the whole stupid thing.

A text message startled him and he looked at the screen to see that it was from Agron.

_Go kick their arses, beautiful._

Nasir smiled, wiped his eyes and marched the rest of the way to the bus stop.

***

“No book today, dear?”

He had been staring out of the window when a familiar voice made him glance around. Ellen took a seat opposite and gave Nasir a warm smile.

“No, well, I have loads in my bag but I don’t really feel like reading. How are you? I’ve been hoping to see you again.”

Nasir turned on his seat so he could face her, his knees sticking out into the isle of the bus.

“I’m well, enjoying the cooler weather. Are you on your way to the college again?”

“Yeah, I saw your nephew and I’m going to see him again today, hopefully because I’m able to enrol. Thanks for your help, professor Batiatus was really great, and he didn’t laugh at me.”

Ellen smiled again, her eyes lighting up and Nasir saw a glimpse of what she may have looked like as a young woman. Even now, the soft wrinkles and white hair couldn’t hide her beauty.

“I’m so pleased for you. I’m sure you’ll love it there. You seem like a smart boy.”

Nasir laughed softly and shook his head. He was smart, but it wasn’t easy hearing people say nice things about him.

“Are you alright? You look sad.”

Nasir frowned and looked down at his lap.

“I… my Mr Darcy… Agron, he left today, he just got on a plane a few minutes ago actually and I’m already missing him. We thought we had more time together, two more months, but he had to go and I…” Nasir shook his head and looked at Ellen who reached out and took hold of his hand. “I want him here.”

“Will he come back?” Ellen looked at sad as Nasir was feeling and Nasir was grateful to be able to talk about it. Keeping things bottled up wasn’t good for him.

“He says he will, but he’s a soldier and he can’t promise me that. He told me he loves me and that he will be coming home, but something could happen and… fuck, what if something happened? I wouldn’t know… no one would contact me… fuck… sorry, for swearing.”

Ellen squeezed Nasir’s hand tighter and patted his leg with her other hand.

“Have you talked to him about this? That you are afraid?”

“No, we didn’t have time really. I suppose I should have, but we wanted the last few days to be happy, I guess, so I never…” Nasir paused and breathed in, calming his mini panic and smiling at Ellen to show he was okay. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Can I ask how long he will be away?” Ellen kept holding Nasir’s hand even though he had calmed down.

“Erm, a year at least, but it could be more. I hope not though. A year is bad enough.”

They travelled in silence for a few more minutes and Nasir saw that they were nearly at the college. He would have liked to spend more time with who he had secretly adopted as his grandmother, but he had to go.

“Nasir… could I give you my number. I’m sure I will see you again on one of our bus journeys, but if you need anything or want to talk… you could even come and have supper with me sometime if you liked.”

“Really? I-I would love that, thank you.” He felt overwhelmed at her kindness and grateful that he didn’t feel quite so alone anymore.

“I would like that too,” Ellen said, finally letting go of Nasir’s hand and quickly writing her number on a page of a little notebook that she removed from her purse and then handing it to him.

Nasir put the paper in his pocket and pressed the bell for the next stop and stood up.

“We’re going to write to each other, like you suggested, and I sent him with Pride and Prejudice so he would get some romantic inspiration.” He rolled his eyes and blushed. “I can’t wait to see what he writes though,” Nasir smiled, genuine and not tainted by too much heartache.

“That’s good. You can both look back on those letters in the years to come and each one will be special. I told you letters meant more that texting messages.”

Laughing, Nasir bent down and kissed Ellen on the cheek.

“Yes, you did. You’re a wise woman, Ellen.”

Ellen touched her cheek and chuckled.

Go on now, here’s your stop. Have a good day. Knock em’ dead, kid.”

“I will. See you soon,” Nasir said, feeling a whole lot better than he had before he got on the bus.

He waved at Ellen as she went past and hauled his bag onto his shoulder.

It was going to be okay, he could do this, live and become someone that he was proud to be and when Agron got home he would see that Nasir had done something good with his life.

Nodding his head firmly, he set off towards the college, making a mental note not to forget to buy a disposable camera on his way home.

 


End file.
